Smile
by AnePink
Summary: Touko won the final battle and N left. She thought everything had come to an end and she wouldn't ever be able to smile again. That's when life took her by surprise... Ferriswheelshipping and other shippings included. Post-game story.
1. Prologue

**Hi there!**

**Well, I'm totally in love with all the ffics around here! I felt stirred up to write my first story concerning FWS. There are also a lot of Shippings on the list!**

****Feel free to Review! I'll appreciate them for sure! S2****

**I do not own pokemon.**

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><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

(TOUKO'S POV)

He left the place where we decided fate and as his Reshiram made its way through the skies I realized I was standing there alone watching his retreating figure. I couldn't help the burst of tears that came out of my eyes in that moment. My body was shaking like a leaf from the cold I felt inside my heart when I saw him flying away. I had a lump in my throat that I couldn't swallow and it left me unable to even breathe properly. I felt horrible and all alone in this the silent place, so silent that my ears could hear my own voice emanating from my mind. It was calling for N.

I felt weak all of the sudden, like all my strength had flown from my body when N flew off. The strong girl that won the battle against him and Ghetsis faded away within that sad moment. I found myself kneeling on the ground, embracing my own body trying to protect myself from the cold that N's absence had inflicted me with.

'Touko, Be strong! You can pull yourself out of this!' I thought. I got up, staggered a bit, and walked through the arena where my truth overcame N's ideals. I couldn't stand being there anymore and needed to get out of this place. I ran down a flight of stairs, coming across another large hall that looked exactly the same as the one I just came from.

I was running as fast as I could, when someone tried to stop me. It was Alder, he seemed worried about me and wrapped me a tight hug.

"Hey Touko…" Alder said as he tightened his arms around me. "It's ok… shhh… Don't cry Touko, I'm here for you! Cheren's here too… Thanks to you all the trainers can stay together with their pokemon! You did it! Don't cry…"

In my weakness I started falling to the ground while Alder tried to hold me up. I clutched his clothes and snuggled myself into his arms, soaking his shirt with my tears. I Opened and closed my mouth as I tried to find words to say, but it was useless. I couldn't hear anything but the words Alder was speaking to me.

"The black and white world was never meant to exist, and you proved it to them! Touko, I totally don't get why you are crying…" The black and white world he mentioned stabbed at my heart like a knife causing it to ache as I thought of him. Cheren remained static where he was, watching the situation and looking annoyed. He knew why I was crying, but he loathed N.

After gathering some energy, I cried out. "He's gone! N's gone! He left me… I-I didn't want him to leave… I'm gonna miss him so bad!" Sobbing, I lifted my head a bit to face Alder. He stared at me with a saddened look, but tightened his embrace to comfort me.

"I see." Alder stated softly.

While the room was silent, Cheren spoke up "It's better off this way" he yelled. "This is absolutely absurd, Touko! Did you get hit on your head by some of Reshiram's powerful blows? Or are you one of his Zoroak's illusions? Seriously Touko, you are not ok!" Cheren said as he used his fingers to count his theories. "If you were ok, you'd never say such nonsense! That's why I'm thinking that, one – you were struck hard on head. Two – you are not you and you must be an illusion or something else, and three…"

"Ok Cheren, that's enough!" Alder said interrupting Cheren and lifting a hand to stop him. Cheren puffed his cheeks, turned his head away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"T-take me o-out of here, please… I don't want to s-stay any l-longer…" I stammered.

"Right." The champion guided me out of the castle. It really didn't matter where I was as long as he was with me… But he wasn't there anymore. I went into despair when I realized things wouldn't get any better anytime soon.

My piercing sorrow was slowly making me numb. I probably should have felt joy when I came across the huge crowd that was waiting for me right at the Pokemon League entrance. They all started to scream my name with affection, showing intense emotions of happiness and gratefulness they felt that very moment. I couldn't tell how many posters full of sweet words were there to greet me, and some even the saying 'Marry me, Touko!' I couldn't stifle my giggle when I read those. The numb I felt was softly lifting from me and I let a little of everyone else's joy lift me as well.

Bianca and Touya came to give me a warm hug while Cheren stood aside with his hands inside his pockets. Bianca brought him closer stating out loud that we needed to celebrate. I instantly felt better with them close by and it cheered me up if only just a little. After all that I had been through, I finally realized how much it was worth it. I found that I had a reason to smile again, and the reason was because I had made others happy by doing the right thing.

"But I still miss N…" I quietly whispered to myself.

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><p><strong><strong> AN: WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BETA Snare646! You REALLY made an awesome job! ****

****AND THANK YOU FOR READING!****

****Yes, we're now fixing the chapters! I'm sooo happy! XD****


	2. Chapter 1

**I do not own Pokemon. **

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 1<strong>

The whole of Unova was quiet the next day. That is except for Touya's house, which was the exception. "This is absurd! I can't believe my eyes! I don't want to believe my eyes!" Cheren yelled entering his friend's house.

"Thank you for startling me, Cheren! If I have a heart attack, I'll tell everyone you're the guilty!" Touya said, rolling his eyes while he chewed on his toast.

"I left my cozy bed early this morning to spend my hard-earned money to buy this newspaper and read THIS!" The black haired boy pointed to the news printed on the first page of the paper.

"Man, what's the matter? Oh, I know! The world is going to end today, isn't it?" The brown haired boy smirked.

"Almost… No! It's way worse than that! Take this and see for yourself!" Cheren tried to hand over the newspaper but the other boy refused to get it.

"I'm having breakfast and that means that I'm eating, and eating is what I like to do the most! I won't stop it only to please you, so read it to me!" Touya poured some milk inside his glass.

"My mouth won't spill such nasty words! I'd rather die!" He threw the newspaper onto the table where Touya had set his glass. They stared at each other a few seconds, but Touya gave up and read the news.

"I see nothing wrong here. I think you need new glasses, oh and that you're crazy as well!" Touya shook his head.

"I doubt you really know how to read anyway." Cheren said as he pulled up a chair and placed it next to his friend. "I didn't want to, but I'll read it with all the words for you to understand!"

"Don't waste your precious time, Cheren, I already…" Before he could finish the other boy read the news loudly.

_The big match aftermath_

_Yesterday Unova had a remarkable day. After the battle of the chosen heroes, the king of team plasma flew off riding his big white dragon to some unknown destination. Both International and Unova police are already working on the case and their first step will be to locate the other sages and arrest them, with a little help from Ghetsis' interrogation. _

_The police along with the Champion Alder, and the heroine Touko White, decided for the grunts' freedom, and only will be arresting those who rebel or resist on obeying the laws._

'_The King of Team Plasma won't be pursued nor arrested, considering the story of his own life. We were told he was manipulated by Ghetsis and he is not a threat to Unova. He has legal rights to live here in freedom just like the other civilians from this region.' Looker stated._

_For now, everything is under control and there's nothing to worry about. _

"Can you see it now? N won't be punished! He did all that and he won't be punished! He's their leader and he won't be sent to the jail! It's ridiculous!" Cheren abruptly stood up.

"I'm sorry but I don't agree with you pal. N doesn't seem to be a bad person, after listening to what Touko told me about him. He's been through a lot, and I think he deserves to live his real life for now."

"I can't believe you Touya! You must be infected with the same virus Touko has!" Cheran said as stumbled backwards. Bianca brought a plate of toast from the kitchen. She joined Touya at the table, offering food to the two boys.

"I never refuse any kind of food!" Touya licked his lips and grabbed five slices of toast quickly.

"The toast isn't going anywhere darling, slow down a little!" The blond girl giggled and turned to the dark haired boy. "Hiiiiii, Cheren!"

"Hey Bianca, don't you start telling me that N's a nice guy as well." The bespectacled boy made sure to prevent her from saying what he keeps hearing from others. Bianca smiled and grabbed a pen and wrote on Cheren's newspaper with large sized letters. She wrote '_N'S A NICE GUY!' _and showed it to him.

"I'm outta here!" The boy crumpled the paper and slammed the door when he exited.

"I can't really understand him, he told me not to open my mouth and I didn't open it, did I?" Bianca gave a confused look to Touya. He just sighed.

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><p><em>Six months later<em>

Touko was sleeping peacefully on a soft mattress with a pillow filled with Swanna's feathers. At a time when she wanted sleep the most, the X-transceiver's alarm clock rudely woke her up.

"Oww… Oh, my… what time is it?" She took the device and looked at it. "Seven o'clock? It's too early… I can sleep, for at least, more 5 minutes!" The girl grumbled while she drew the blanket over her head. But, who said she would sleep for only 5 minutes?

"Toukoooo! Are you dead, girl? You were supposed to see Professor Juniper early this morning!" Her mother always yells dramatically to make her jump out of the bed quickly. Startled, the brunette leapt out of her soft mattress to face another day, even having the feeling she wasn't ready to.

"I know my mother loves me, but her screams scary me to death!" She lifted her hand up to her chest to feel her heart going a mile-a-minute and tried to calm herself down. "I'm on my way, mom! No need to panic!" She replied.

"Well… Let me see…" She took the X-transceiver again. "Ten?! It's almost half past ten! I overslept!" Touko put her head out of the door and called out loud for her mother. "Moooom! Why didn't you wake me?"

"I did wake you. You were the one who didn't." Her mother stated ironically.

The girl stumbled from side to side of her bedroom, thinking about what she would do first. "Oh… Sure! A nice shower should come first, you goof!" The girl ran into the shower so fast she forgot to remove her pajamas realizing the situation only when the mess was already done. After fumbling with her own business she left her room wearing a pink cap with a white pokeball logo in front of it, a tight white tank top and pink shorts with the same white pokeball logo at its right side. She also wore white boots and had her hair tied in a ponytail as usual.

She quickly ate her breakfast her mother had prepared and made sure to brush her teeth afterwards. Well, who knows, she suddenly could meet N somewhere out there, and it would be a disaster if her teeth were not all clean.

"Don't forget to apologize to Professor Juniper about being late. And take care, dear! Mommy loves you!" Mrs. White said as she brought her child in for a hug.

"I love you too, mom! I'll be back to inform you about Professor's plans." With that, Touko made her way to the lab. She ran like crazy, heart pounding out of her chest. After a little while and light sheen of sweat, the girl reached the building and knocked on the door, her wrists matching the pounding of her heart beat. The girl heard some footsteps approaching the door from the inside before the door opened.

"Touko! I really wanted to see you! Please, come in!" Professor Juniper gestured to the large room behind herself.

"Oh Professor… I'm so sorry! I'm totally late! I'm sorry I didn't make it here on time!" The young girl apologized as Juniper led her inside the lab.

"It's fine! So…I guess I have no choice but to tell you that I just woke up!" She giggled and lifted the cup she was holding towards her mouth to take a sip of some hot coffee. Then she pulled up a chair and asked Touko to sit down next to her. The professor turned to the PC. "Well dear, Touko… Why are you here?" The young girl blinked out of surprise not believing what the Professor was questioning.

"I thought you were the one supposed to answer that question." She replied in a blank expression. The place was silent for a few seconds.

"Oh! Hahahahaha… Maybe I haven't woken up yet…" She said as she yawned and then sipped some more coffee. "Seriously, I'm sorry… I'm not trying to joke with you or anything of the sort… I'm just a bit out of my head lately!" She stood up and walked to a desk full of papers scattered everywhere over the top of it and leaned to open one of its drawers. She took a thick folder from there and handed it over to the confused girl. "There you go, champion-to-be!" Touko stared at the folder, her mind lost in thought.

"This folder holds important files of all the research I've done throughout the year." She sat again and turned to the young girl. "Every year, the most influential professors of all the regions gather themselves in a council and this council is associated to the preservation of the environment of each region. Here we have the annual Unova research council, where we must officially report our successful studies about pokemon. After that we formulate a plan into what is called the 'Action Plan'. The goal of this plan is to improve the pokemon's lives and it includes ways to implement the plan. It shows the necessary resources, budgets, and any environmental impacts that it may cause, among other protocols. The department's secretary and the minister will review the plan and point out the flaws, if any, and then all participants will vote whether to incorporate the plan or not. If accepted, the Secretary will begin developing the regulations and ordinances believed to be required and then the Unova minister will sign the plan, enabling the proposed 'Action plan' to go into effect. Well, it's a much longer process then I just made it out to be though."

"Does this folder have anything to do with the council?" The young trainer seemed to be lost among all those words.

"Yes… I keep all this year's projects inside this folder. Could you open it for me and take the last paper that's attached, please? It's about my newest research! I want you to read it." Touko nodded and carefully searched for the paper.

"Here! It must be this one… Its name is 'The legendary triplets'. I liked the name! It's kinda cool!" The girl gave a 'thumbs up' to express her approval, but the professor grimaced.

"Don't lie, Touko. I've already tried a lot of times to change that name! My fellow scientists even told me that the name is annoying… They want something more, well… special, but I couldn't think of anything better! "

"Oh ok, but I was being serious and I didn't lie, but… now that you mentioned it, it is a bit a lame…" She answered quickly.

"I like your honesty, but liked what you said first better!" Juniper said chuckling a little and the young trainer shrugged.

"I'm sorry… Well, let's go back to the research. So, what about me? Do I have anything to do with this?"

"I called you here to help me on this research. Since you're the strongest trainer of Unova I have a feeling that you'll get the job done quickly. Though this is not all about strength, you will have to be really skilled as well." Touko looked at the PC's screen that Professor Juniper turned around for her to see. She saw three Pokémon there. They were equal in features and had similar names. "They are the triplets and my research's subjects."

"Oh! I've already seen this one!" The young girl gasped as she pointed to a pokemon named Thundurus, jumping in excitement. Juniper stared at her in awe not believing what she had just heard.

"That's… amazing! Where did you see it? You know, as a legendary pokemon it's always hiding somewhere where it can't be found easily." The trainer approached the screen with her eyes fixed on Thundurus' image before she answered the Professor.

"After beating Iris at Opelucid gym, I was heading to route 10 that leads to the Pokemon League when I was informed of a weird weather pattern in route 7. Being the curious that I am, I rushed there to see it for myself. Then…" The older woman cut her off.

"Wow! I reckon Thundurus was causing all this mess! It's such a powerful pokemon! But I'm glad this all happened! I was going to ask you to go look for them and report back when you come across some interesting information. I'd like you to take some pictures of them too, if it's possible. So Touko, will you accept this request of mine?" The Professor asked with a large smile.

"I would love to meet a legendary! Well, first I'd have to figure out where to find them, let alone get close enough to see one, and even more so close enough to talk to one." Touko said grinning insanely, to which Professor Juniper returned the smile.

"Thanks a lot dear! I knew I could count on you!" The professor thanked her and the young trainer nodded.

"You're welcome." With this she made her way out of the lab. She thought to herself _'_I have to make Bianca, Cheren, and Touya aware of this_.'_

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><p>The sun was high in the sky.<p>

Touko walked down the street after leaving the lab, wondering if she would do as good as the professor thought she could. She didn't want to disappoint her.

'I'll do my best... 6 months ago I didn't believe I could win that epic battle against…' Now she was as red as beet, starting to forget the world around her and feeling her heart skip a beat. She smiled softly, butterflies in her stomach. That's it. Touko was completely infatuated with N. But she needed to concentrate. She had a brand new task at hand that she needed to focus on and put all her energy into. 'I just need to trust myself and believe in myself!' She frowned. 'Oh My… What I was supposed to do now? Oh, yeah! I think Bianca told me she would be at Touya's house this morning! Touya's house here I come!' Going down the street, she hummed her favorite love songs to herself.

Fortunately, she found them all at Touya's house. Cheren had returned after his outburst this morning and was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. Meanwhile Bianca and Touya were dancing to some music while circling the couch, where Cheren was, laughing and having a good time. Cheren scowled and adjusted his glasses.

"The way you're dancing makes me feel like I was watching animal planet… If I wanted to I would just turn the TV on." The dark haired boy said sarcastically.

"Come on, Cheren! Why don't you have some fun? No one is looking at you and we won't tell anyone about it!" Touya told him with a grin while Bianca spun around and fell gracefully into his arms.

"Cheren's such a loveless boy… I think he needs to find someone to love him!" Bianca added. The brunette entered the house's living room and couldn't help but to think 'Oh goodness gracious… Wasn't there a better moment for me to arrive?'

"Touko! So good you're here! I love when we're all together!" The blonde girl threw her hands up and ran towards the brunette that smiled awkwardly at all her friends.

"So do I Bianca. I'm here to tell you that I-I… ughh… I can't b-breathe!" Touko squeezed out before Touya and Cheren ran to grab Bianca and pull her away, setting Touko free from the suffocating hug.

"I don't know what to do with her anymore! I've already told her a million times that she hugs too hard, but had no effect!" Touya sighed before chuckling a bit.

"It's ok! We all know she sometimes gets a little overexcited." The two boys lifted their brows and looked at the brunette waiting for her to correct something. "Oh fine! She always a little overexcited!" They all laughed at the friendly banter.

"Hey, I'm sorry… I just looooove my friends so much! And I want them to know that!" She apologized with a smile.

"We know it and we can't forget it for a second because you're there to remember us every time… And you've got no reason to be bashful about it, Bianca!" Cheren said kindly.

"No need to apologize! Cheren's right, we're proud to have a friend like you, but I still think Touya needs to teach you the right way to hug someone! Well… I mean… Not the way he hugs you at those private moments… Hahaha! Sorry guys, I lost it for a second there! Hahaha." Touko burst out laughing while Bianca and Cheren blushed. Touya grinned showing he hadn't a single trace of remorse.

"You're right, my dear Touko! Though I never do indecent things in public. I'm a real gentleman! I really care for Bianca!" Touya laughed along with the girls while Cheren face palmed.

"Alright, no more fun and games! You already managed to disturb me… Let's change the subject!" He adjusted his glasses turning his head to the other side.

"Are your glasses too big for your head Cheren? I always thought it was the opposite…" Touya said making fun of Cheren, one of his favorite hobbies.

They all sat there, eating and joking. They kept it casual and refrained from talking about serious subjects. Several minutes of silence passed and Touko remembered she needed to tell her friends about what Professor Juniper asked her to do. She explained what had transpired and the task she was setting out to do and when they were sitting there letting this new information sink in Touko realized she needed to be on her way out.

"Well dear friends…It's really good to be with you, but I must leave for now. You already know what I told you about the research. I'd better start as soon as possible!" Touko stood up and stretched her arms.

"I'm your fan, Touko! Go for it! Just remember to contact us if anything comes up!" Touya said with his right hand resting on her shoulder. Bianca hugged the brunette and squeezed her in such way she couldn't breathe again.

"Contact us soon!" The blonde girl yelled. Cheren shoved by Bianca and shook hands with Touko.

"How rude Cheren!" Bianca crossed her arms.

"This is what you get for being annoying!" Cheren retorted.

"Ok guys… No more fights for today at least… Bye, bye! See you around!" She left the house waving and wended her way home to inform her mother what the mission that Professor Juniper asked her to accomplish was.

When she did everything she needed to do and said all her goodbyes, Touko set off down the road to route 1 to find a place where she could safely release Zekrom from its Master Ball. A Few minutes later she was riding Zekrom, thinking to herself 'Hm… Where should I head first?' Her face lit with the memory of her standing before the legendary flying-electric type pokemon. 'Maybe I should give it a shot!_' _"Zekrom, we're headed to route 7!"

The black dragon spread its wings and glided through Unova and the clear blue skies on its way to their first stop. It was sure that would be quite the adventure.

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><p>AN: This is the brilliant revised version that my first-rate Beta Snare646 did! You rock, I love you!

As I love all my readers with so much care! Thank you guys!

We'll keep fixing the chapters at a nice pace, thanks to this awesome Beta I've got! So, tune in! =)

S2


	3. Chapter 2

I do not own Pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 2<strong>

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><p>Zekrom landed gracefully and the young girl carefully jumped off of the dragon's back. She had purposefully landed on the outskirts of Mistralton's as to not attract a lot of attention.<p>

"Yes… Now… Hmm… I think I'm gonna buy some items at the market… I've got to work hard on this mission!" She turned to her pokemon. "Good boy, have a good rest now and thanks for the ride darling!"

The legendary looked her way. _'You're welcome, my lady! Thanks for your concern.'_ Touko's jaw dropped.

"Whaaat?… A-are you t-talking to me or am I hearing things?"

Zekrom's ruby eyes fixed on her sapphire ones. _'I accepted you as my heroine and I wanted to be by your side! Since the day you woke me from the dark stone I was able to talk to you with telepathy… But I thought I'd better give you a little time before doing it… I knew being able to hear pokemon like this would remind you of Reshiram's hero… I already noticed how sad you've been since the day he left_…' The brunette sighed and patted Zekrom's back tenderly, tears forming in her eyes.

'_This is exactly what I feared… It hurts me to see you cry, my lady!'_ She leaned herself to the dragon and rested her head over the pokemon's giant left limb.

"It's ok…" After a moment of silence Touko whispered "Do you think he'll ever come back?" She asked the black dragon desperate and lonely look in her eyes.

'_If he loves you, I'm sure he will!'_ Touko frowned and her voice cracked when she spoke. "Do you t-think he l-loves me? Oh, no… no! Just forget about it!" She feared hearing something she didn't want to, but Zekrom told her nonetheless.

'_As sure as the sun will rise every morning!' _Her blue eyes widened and her cheeks flushed. The warm breeze gently blew her long hair that swayed along with the wind's soft rhythm.

Touko giggled to herself and smiled. "Thanks sweetie! Now, you deserve a nice rest!" The legendary black dragon returned to its masterball. The girl wiped her tears, that were just forming, and made her way to the mart. She was out of some items, ones she always carried while traveling through Unova back when she was facing gym leaders and spoiling team Plasma's plans.

…

"It costs $20,000 little miss!"

"There you go!" The salesman thanked Touko and she walked away. She heard someone call her name before reaching the exit door.

"Touko! It's been a while! I've heard a lot about your adventures!" The young trainer turned to see Skyla looking at her in amazement.

"Hi there, Skyla! Yeah, a lot of things have happened since I last saw you!" Touko said, greeting her.

The gym leader came closer. "I'll be always glad for what you've done! I can't imagine how my life would be like living without my beloved pokemon…" She stated with a grateful look.

"I did it because I knew that most trainers really do love and care deeply for their pokemon! It makes me happy when I see great bonds of friendship and love between them!" Touko shared.

Skyla pointed at the sky, more precisely, the mart's ceiling. "Thank you sooo much! As huge as the vast skies! Hahaha!" The flying-type pokemon trainer laughed and Touko joined in while they exited the mart together.

"What are you doing now if you're not collecting gym badges anymore?" The Gym Leader asked curiously.

"Professor Juniper gave me a mission that'll help on her research. I have to look for three legendary pokemon named Thundurus, Tornadus and Landorus." She whispered to her, her voice barely audible so as to not let anyone overhear.

"Oh! I love Tornadus! Please, let me help you! Pleeeease! I'd give anything I have to see it!" Skyla asked in excitement.

"Well… I guess Professor wouldn't mind! Thanks, Skyla!"

"I'm the one that needs to say thank you! It's my pleasure! I'm sure you'll find them really soon, you're the most skilled trainer of all Unova! Well, you and Touya… He's an incredible guy…" The older woman blushed and brought her two hands up to her cheeks.

"Yeah, he is! But be careful not to tell him those things. He's kind of smug about his accomplishments!" Touko smirked at the Leader.

"Ok! I promise I won't surrender to the cute little thing he is!" Skyla answered the girl and she thought 'Doesn't she know he's got a girlfriend? And she happens to be one of the three best friends I have?'She sighed and felt sad for the Gym Leader who liked her friend.

"I gotta go now… It's really good seeing you again, Skyla! Contact me if you find something interesting!" The bird Pokemon trainer nodded.

"First off, I'm going to Celestial tower and maybe at its top I can catch a glimpse of what might be one of them! See you, miss!" The two trainers said goodbye to each other and led themselves into different paths.

Back to route 7, Touko was standing before the tall grass. 'Seems like ages ago the last time I was here.' She tried her best not to bring back memories from her journey. 'Snap out of this daydreaming, Touko! Focus! Focus!'She shook her head, passed through the tall grass and kept going. A few minutes later the girl saw someone getting closer to her and she could notice it was a man, a tall and large man. He wore some kind of a cowboy-style hat and Touko could almost smell him from the distance she was at. The man was also carrying a suitcase. Touko laughed at the thought that he was like a cowboy businessman. Touko greeted the man as soon as she recognized him.

"Hello, Clay! Long time no see!" They shook hands and he leaned to kiss her hand.

"I must thank ya for savin' Unova from those thugs! I'm relieved now!" Clay said with his usual firm voice and the girl scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

"You're welcome! I just did what had to be done! Since that fateful day people come from all over to thank me. My heart is filled with joy because I know that now people and pokemon have even stronger friendships!" The ground type pokemon trainer took a step forward.

"Hm-Hum! That's the way it should be! Well, I don't wanna intrude, but what yer doin' here?"

"I'm looking for three legendary pokemon! Skyla's already helping me out with the search, she's looking for Tornadus. It's for Professor Juniper, she gave me this mission!"

The gym leader lifted a thumb up and grinned. "I guess Landorus is my specialty! If Skyla's helpin' ya, I can do the same as well! It would be an honor!"

"Yup! I need all the help here! If you do find anything, contact me!" She explained.

"No problem, I'll do it! But ya must know ya'll only find Landorus when ya have the other two…" Clay informed the girl and she got all confused.

"What? I didn't know about that! Tell me more about it!" Touko clutched the man's jacket and jumped impatiently.

"I've heard that once ya have both Tornadus and Thundurus, it'll be easier to find Landorus. If ya take 'em to the Abundant Shrine, located on route 14, Landorus will swoop down and demand for a battle. That's all I know…" He answered, but it wasn't enough for Touko.

"Ohh… And how can I find the other two? Where are they? Do you know anything?" She seemed a bit down after listening to Clay even though she did receive such crucial information.

"Nope! Dunno, sorry… In fact, the only thing I know is that Tornadus and Thundurus are said to be roamin' the areas of Unova… They can show up in the southern routes in the mornings and in the northern routes in the evenings."

"Thank you very, very much Clay! This will be so much easier for me now! Even though it still won't be easy, you've gave me much more than I could ever have expected." Touko said with a grateful look on her face.

"I just arrived from Driftveil an' was headin' to Twist Mountain. I'm goin' there now, so if ya want to see me, ya know where to find me! See ya, miss!" He turned his back and walked away slowly. "Bye!" Touko hollered after him as she continued as well.

After wandering around route 7, Touko sat on the grass, next to a tree. She sent out 5 of her 6 pokemon she had with her.

"Let's have some fun, my babies!" Like an explosion, Samurott, Simisear, Liligant, Krokodile and Emolga were sent out from their Pokeballs. They immediately surrounded their trainer to greet her in their own way. She giggled and tenderly patted each one of her beloved friends. She fed them some delicious berries that she had stored up. After a few minutes, the girl fell asleep in such inviting scenery: The soft grass, dim light over place and the warmth her pokemon were providing plus the tiredness she felt from all the walking she did. These reasons were strong enough to make the young girl grow drowsy and into a deep nap in a short period of time.

She spent all the rest of her afternoon like that, and soon the sun started to set. When it was getting dark, her pokemon, who were keeping watch, heard some noises coming closer to them. The sounds of the footsteps got louder and louder causing Samurott and Krokodile to run in its direction and give orders to Emolga, Liligant and Simisear to stay next to their trainer in case something unexpected happened. Tension took over and her loyal pokemon waited for a signal of some sorts to spring into action, but it never came. Instead an elderly woman came from the darkness and found them among the forest and recognized Touko from the day she was wandering aimlessly around route 7, when that odd storm happened.

The older woman woke the young one and lead Touko to her house, which was close to place they were. Once there, they chatted, and after dinner Touko made sure to sleep well for the rest of the night and woke up early. At about seven o' clock she had breakfast and thanked the generous woman for everything she had done for her.

….

'Where do I go now? I thought I had some clue of where they might be just because I saw Thundurus around here that day, but… Oh my! I'm a fool! To even think I'd see it around the same place like last time.' She sighed. 'I'll head somewhere else for now…' She decided, and then, took sight of a beautiful tree filled with gorgeous apples. "Wow! I know exactly who's gonna love it! Emolga, let's go!"

The Pokeball's red light materialized into a cute little pokemon. As soon as it was out of the technological device, the young girl knelt to the ground and gingerly stroked its head and using her other hand pointed to the sweet fruits. Emolga quickly climbed the tree trunk and snatched an apple. The brunette happily watched her little friend holding the fruit, looking pretty delighted.

"Emol…" The pokemon interrupted itself and remained as stiff as a statue over the tree's branch. She let go of the apple and it fell to the ground, rolling a bit 'till it stopped at Touko's feet. Staring at the rejected apple, she looked up in concern at her Emolga.

'What is it? Why didn't she eat it? She had never done this before… Oh, no! Is my little girl sick?' Worried, the young trainer called out to her small friend.

"Darling! What happened? I need to know if you're ok!" She shouted, but the pokemon didn't move an inch. "Oh my… What should I do? Hmm, I'll get you, dear! Stay right there!" When she thought about hurrying to her partner, she froze even before taking a step toward her pokemon because Emolga suddenly started to shoot out sparks of electricity while glaring at the deepest area of the forest. Touko stepped backwards, she knew her pokemon had used discharge, but unsure as to why.

In a blink of an eye, Emolga was gone and started running towards the area it was concentrating on a second ago. The girl shook herself out of her frozen state and she quickly ran as fast as she could to try to keep up with Emolga. Fortunately, the pokemon stopped in a matter of minutes, bringing its trainer to a wide open field, in the middle of the forest.

Touko was totally breathless and fell over her knees heavily. She put one hand on her chest and the other on her thigh, panting heavily. When she recovered, she stood up and stared at Emolga, her eyebrows furrowed.

"This isn't funny, are you ok? I don't like these kinds of games, so don't you go running off like this again!" She crossed her arms trying to make her point understood.

"Now… Back to your pokeba…" Before she could finish her sentence, the little pokemon started to act strange again by running a few steps forward and positioning itself as if it was ready to attack.

The brunette was about to complain again but she froze for the second time that day. She saw something she wasn't expecting to see anytime soon.

…...

"Oh man! I need to have some peace and quiet here!" Juniper sighed and the knock on the door got louder. "Ok, ok! I'm on my way!" She opened the door, grimacing, but her face went blank when she saw who was there.

"Professor, can you please tell me where Touko is? The only thing I know is that she lives here in Nuvema, but I don't have any idea which is her house!" The young, desperate man said.

"…N? Is that you?" She asked him in disbelief, though he looked exactly the same as before, when she met him with Touko in Chargestone Cave.

"Hm? Oh… I'm sorry… I skipped greetings and introductions… I'm still awkward at social life! Yes, I'm N! I'm looking for Touko!" He insisted again, though a little shyly.

"Oh, no problem… I just… Needed to know… I can inform you about her house, but… Right now, she isn't there…" Juniper said, feeling almost numb with disbelief.

"Fine then… Thank you! I'll go look for her by myself!" He said and suddenly vanished, leaving the professor dumbfounded.

N ran through route 1 the same way Touko did a day before. He spotted a safe place to release Reshiram and sent it out of the pokeball.

"I just remembered you can find Zekrom, my friend!" The green haired man said gently to his white dragon.

_'I can indeed, master N! I can sense Zekrom's presence… It gets stronger the closer I get to him!' _The young man couldn't help but smile.

"Guide yourself to Zekrom. Guide me to Touko. It's the same path." N told Reshiram as he prepared to ride his legendary.

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><p>So, this is another revised chapter that once again displays the beautiful job that Snare646 is doing to it! Big thanks for always putting together a perfectly improved version to readers! They're really worth it!<p>

I cherish all the reviews! Oh, I adore you guys! XD


	4. Chapter 3

**I do not own Pokemon. **

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 3<strong>

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><p>She thought about running away, but this was her mission, right? After all, here she was standing before her objective and yet she was terrified. Her knees shook as she stood there staring at Thundurus.<p>

"Emolga, come over here, you're not in battle!" She yelled reaching out for her Master Ball. The little pokemon didn't listen to her.

"EMOLGA! I won't tell you twice!" Emolga ignored its trainers and attempted to use acrobatics on the giant legendary. It was useless though as Thundurus evaded the attack and wrapped Emolga with its spiked tail. The blue pokemon started to spin its tail around really fast, making the little creature completely dizzy. Emolga was thrown at high-speed through the air before violently striking a tree. All of this happened in a blink of an eye before Touko even realized what happened.

"OH NO!" Touko cried in fear for her friend. She rushed to Emolga's side and gently cradled the small and wounded pokemon. As she embraced it she was flung backwards from a lightening bolt that crashed at her feet. She smashed her back against a tree and it hurt like crazy, but she couldn't worry about that right now, she needed to focus. Touko looked over Emolga and was relieved that her friend received mostly superficial damage.

"Be a good girl and stay away from that tough guy…Ugh… Understood?" Touko smiled at Emolga then grimaced in pain. The little pokemon nodded, but she wouldn't let Thundurus hurt her trainer if she could help it. Emolga knew she needed to try to stay ahead of Thundurus if she was going to protect Touko. Emolga attacked the legendary again, doing the same flying-type move that it did before, but this time, Thundurus wasn't fast enough to grab the cute creature. Emolga smirked when it managed to stand on the giant pokemon's head, making it twist and swing its body and arms in an effort to get rid of the little pokemon. Touko was still recovering from the bruise on her back when Emolga bolted from her arms. She frowned in worry and frustration at her disobedient pokemon. Still, she was worried Emolga went of the offensive, but even she could prevent the laugh that escaped when she saw that funny scene of her little Emolga standing atop the large and fearsome legendary's head.

"Thundurus is a good dancer!" She whispered under her breath to herself with a giggle. She didn't want to incite Thundurus any further so she was going to keep that to herself.

Emolga leaned down from Thundurus' head and poked its tiny paws into the legendary's eyes. It growled loudly and shook violently. The little pokemon fell from its perch, but as a flying-type, this wasn't a problem and she recovered quickly.

"That's enough, Emolga! Zekrom, you're in charge!" Touko shouted as she finally stood up and sent out the black dragon that instantly took to the sky. The only problem was that the little pokemon didn't come back to the pokeball and Touko sighed in exasperation.

"Ok… Zekrom, use Dragon Claw!" The dragon showed its sharp claws to the opponent, and Thundurus discharged bolts of lightning from its spikes.

"Beware of your opponent's tail!" Touko advised her own legendary pokemon.

'_Thank you, my lady! Allow me handle this!' _Zekrom telepathically responded before it slashed its huge claws across Thundurus' side. The foe retaliated with a Thundershock and in a stroke of extremely bad luck or brilliant planning the attack paralyzed Zekrom and prevented him from using any attacks, or from even moving. The black dragon struggled to break from its vulnerable position, but this was a legendary's attack making the paralysis that much stronger, and Thundurus was having no mercy.

"It seems it had a strategy! Zekrom, I know you can do it! Try to endure its attacks until you're free from paralysis." Touko voiced confidently, even though her voice cracked when she spoke, as she calculated situation. Emolga was watching the battle from its defensive position in front of her trainer. The little pokemon didn't stay quiet for very long, especially when she saw her friends in trouble. With her temper rising, Emolga dashed away from Touko and leapt to gain altitude as she flew towards Thundurus. The sky squirrel pokemon couldn't stand to see Zekrom being injured by the other for any longer. To Emolga's misfortune the irate legendary built up all its energy to use a very dangerous Discharge that would inflict a serious amount of damage even to another electric-type pokemon.

"Come back, Emolga! I told you not to…" The brunette saw huge sparks around Thundurus' tail and she took off towards it, trying to protect her pokemon from the dangerous situation it was rushing into. Touko gave all she had to reach Emolga and she leapt high to catch the pokemon. Touko held Emolga tight to her chest while in air and closed her eyes tightly. It was already too late. There were already frightful bolts of electricity coming towards her. 'I'm gonna die…' She thought before everything went black.

Touko fell to the ground holding her pokemon. It took a few seconds for her to realize she was still alive. "What happened?" She asked aloud in wonder as she put Emolga safely on the ground and looked around, confused. She was behind a giant pokemon, and its silhouette was in front of her, protecting her. She stood and backed up a few steps to get a view of her protector. The towering, mysterious figure in front of her started to gain form. That form being a beautiful white dragon she last saw six months ago. She fell to her knees with mouth agape. "T-this can't be…" She stammered. The girl felt her heart flutter when she heard a familiar voice coming from right behind her.

"It seems I can't separate from you for a second, otherwise you'll put yourself in danger…" N said gently to her as he crouched in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She froze as it felt like time slowed down and her whole world suddenly became brighter, more sharp and in focus. The man she wanted to see more than even the three legendaries she was searching for was standing in front of her and her heart felt like it was about to burst in joy and excitement.

"Touko… Are you alright?" He asked now taking his other hand to her forehead. "Seems your face is getting hotter… I fear you've got a fever!" His emerald green eyes stared deeply into her blue orbs with a concerned look. She still couldn't believe he was back, even though he was right in front of her, speaking to her, saying her name, and the best part of it, touching her! She'd been silent and motionless for some time. Her mind rewound all the moments they shared like a tape in its VCR. The brunette looked into his innocent eyes and heard him call her name again ever so softly. To her ears it seemed as if he was singing her a beautiful love song. Every time she looked at him she fell in love with him all over again. In that moment she realized how much she needed him. When she couldn't see him, she ached for his presence. When she couldn't hear him, she longed for his sweet voice. He was all she could think about. She snapped out of her trance when N wrapped his arms around her and rolled them out of the way of an attack that almost hit them.

"We'd better finish this battle before we get charred by an electric attack!" N said offering his hand to help Touko up to her feet. She hesitated, but their hands clasped and she opened a bright and vibrant smile to him as she felt like she had just awoke from a deep sleep full of beautiful and amazing dreams.

"Thank you N… I'll kill you after we finish this up!" The brunette smirked at the young boy, earning a confused look from him. She giggled as she remembered he didn't understand sarcasm like her other friends. He probably wasn't used to sarcasm and teasing at all. "Oh… Sorry N, I'll explain it later…" The young girl said with another smile that shown from the bottom of her heart.

It took six months for Touko and N to finally meet again and now they were fighting another battle, only this time as allies. They never took each other as enemies to begin with though. Zekrom and Reshiram were battling fiercely, giving their all to defeat the great Thundurus. The two dragons strategically flew up high in to the skies, causing the other legendary to go after them. With this, they could prevent any of their moves, or thundurus', from hitting their trainers.

"I can't see them any more! I'm starting to get a little worried…" Touko said as she frowned. The three battling legendaries had been lost in the clouds for a few minutes with the two trainers only being able to catch short glimpses of any of them since they first flew off.

"Zekrom and Reshiram's spirits have gotten so aroused in battle that they forget to wait for our commands. I've seen this sort of thing happen before." N shook his head with a small chuckle and crossed his arms over his chest.

Touko couldn't help it as her mind started to wander as she thought N was looking even better than he did since their last encounter. She blushed as her bangs covered her reddening face, hiding her thoughts from N. The brunette heard him approach her before stopping a few steps from her.

"Touko, why are you not talking to me the way you used to?" His heart ached when he remembered that all he had longed for was her bright smile cheering him up. She always treated him kindly, but now she was acting different and this was bothering him. "I-If you don't want me to stay, I-I can leave…"

"Leave? Is that the only thing you can do, N?" She spat, sapphire eyes narrowed. The innocent man flinched at her aggressive mood, being left speechless.

"You don't know what you did to me…" Her manner of speaking was now quite soft, the tears threatened to fall as she continued. "You turned my life upside down! I got through all that mess with you and it made me more confident about myself. You said you would create a new world where people and Pokemon wouldn't belong to each other. You befriended me and then told me you were Team Plasma's King, that evil organization that I always hated and then, and you gave me the chance of turning myself into a heroine and awakening Zekrom to be able to defeat you… Sincerely N… Sometimes it seems you wanted me to win… And then, you knew all the truth behind Ghetsis' plan for Team Plasma, you found out you were used and deceived and things wouldn't be like you envisioned them to be, even if you had won the final battle! When I most needed answers, when I most needed someone around me, someone to talk to, you went away… You left me there… Alone! Only Arceus knows how much I suffered… That was the worst day of my life second only to the day my father passed away…" The girl cried silent tears and turned to the green haired boy that was taken aback in shock.

"I'm so sorry, Touko… I really didn't know about all those things you told me now… And I'm really sorry for your father, too…" He patted her shoulder after a short while of hesitation. "M-my mother passed away too… I think we both know that feeling very well… She passed when she delivered me…" He looked away.

"Oh N, I'm sorry…" Touko gasped. She couldn't even say any other word. She wasn't used to seeing N opening himself up like that, not when he always tried to forget and hide his past, especially his childhood which caused him so much pain.

"It's ok. Anyway… I never had anyone… No one to turn to… But, it hurts me when I think my mother is dead because of me... Fath… I mean, Ghetsis told me it was my fault…" The boy slowly fell to ground, cap covering his handsome face. The brunette couldn't believe his words.

"That man is despicable!" She wanted to scold Ghetsis for forever and a day, but it had to wait. She had something better to do – Reassure N, the man she cared so much for. Touko knelt beside him and took his face with her two hands, gently tipping his head up towards her. He blushed when she stared deeply into his eyes. "He doesn't deserve the wonderful son he has… Don't you ever listen to that monster again! Ghetsis is a demon! It was just… fate… It was no ones fault!" The girl ran her fingers along his cheek. "Now… welcome back, N!" She smiled sweetly, a smile that she reserved only for N.

"Welcome back, Touko! The old Touko I know is back!" He returned the smile and the girl blushed.

'He's hotter than ever…' Before she could lose control she stood up pulling him with her. "N, I'm worried! Where are Zekrom and Reshiram?"

"They will defeat Thundurus for sure, Touko. There is nothing to worry about." The young man said calmly.

"Yes, but I don't want to stay here waiting for them without knowing what's going on up there!" The impatient girl frowned, pacing a little.

"You're right… Lunchtime is gone already, and I'm starving…" N said, slightly patting his stomach. "It seems our friends are hungry too, here they come!" The boy waved to the dragons and Touko was startled by the loud noise behind her. When she turned around she saw Reshiram next to Zekrom with the fainted Thundurus in front of them.

"Wooow! You did it, guys! You really did it!" The female trainer pulled an Ultra Ball from her bag in excitement. "Now…" She stopped and remembered when N criticized those devices. _'So…You're going to confine many, many pokemon in Poke Balls for that, then.'_ The girl looked at the boy who was talking to his white dragon and she held tight the Ball between her hands. As soon as he noticed her hesitance he turned to her and gestured to the fainted legendary.

"Thundurus will be happier with a trainer like you, Touko. Go ahead!" The green haired man made sure to show her that he already got over it. The brunette nodded with her face beaming in delight. She threw the Ultra Ball against the fallen pokemon and could hardly wait to see the device stop and stay steady. After some seconds that felt like ages the tired pokemon gave up and accepted its capture.

"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! I caught him!" She danced in circles and jumped before picking up her brand new caught pokemon. When she touched the Ultra Ball, it suddenly disappeared. "What happened?" She gasped.

"That's normal… I presume you're already carrying six pokemon with you, aren't you?" N stated calmly. She sighed in relief remembering that little rule.

"You're right N! My party is full… It was sent directly to the Pokemon system storage… It must be at Professor Juniper's lab now, I guess! And that's good because I captured it to help her! She's researching Thundurus, Landorus and Tornadus!" She explain to N.

"Good, Touko! She probably knows by now that you managed to catch it. You must be congratulated!" They both thanked their dragons and called them back to their Balls. The girl put Emolga on her shoulder, since it wasn't willing to go into the Pokeball at the moment.

"Thank you, N… Without you I wouldn't be able to get this far…" Touko took some steps closer. "Your arrival made my day… You know, when I woke up today I never could imagine that I would find Thundurus, catch it, and most of all, see you again…" She blushed when she spoke.

"I'm sure you would have succeeded if you had to do this alone, but I'm glad to help you! I-I… When I woke up today I already had decided to go look for you!" He stammered adjusting his cap, bringing its brim to cover his face. When Touko was about to ask what he had done along the past six months her stomach warned her she had to eat soon, otherwise she would end up fainting just like Thundurus did.

"Oh… I'm sorry! Let's go get something to eat! We can reach to Mistralton in a matter of minutes…" The girl explained.

"Minutes that we can easily turn into hours. Let's walk, it will give us time to talk." N persuaded her.

"Dear Arceus… Well, I have some berries here… Do you want some? They'll provide you some glucose to convert into energy while we walk." Touko giggled feeling as studious as her friend Cheren.

"Yes good! But I still think fructose is more appropriate…" He corrected her with his index finger poking his chin.

"They're all carbohydrates! They're the same thing!" She puffed her cheeks.

"Yes, they're carbohydrates. The fructose is a 6-carbon polyhydroxyketone, an isomer of glucose, it means they both share the same molecular formula but they do differ in structure. So…They're not exactly the same thing." N explained the chemical properties.

"Are you kidding me? Slow down, big boy… I don't want to talk about chemistry! Change the subject or I'm going to vanish into the forest and you'll never see me again!" She said sarcastically and smiled at him.

"Sorry…Hmm… Changing subject… Do you like math?" He asked.

"NO!" She rolled her eyes.

They made their way to Mistralton, walking peacefully and talking casually the whole way.

…..

"Humph... Professor Juniper thinks I'm her slave! She's always using me to attain her selfish goals!" Touya complained while his Braviary was preparing to land next to Mistralton City.

"She gave you your first pokemon! You could at least help when she asks you for something!" Bianca said with her head resting on his shoulder.

"Yeah, ok, I know! But she totally takes advantage of it!"

"You're so funny, honey!" The blond girl pinched his cheeks.

"Keep your arms around me, sugar, or you could fall off Braviary!" He alerted her. "We're losing altitude! Prepare to land!" When they landed, the boy quickly got down.

"Here we are! Mistralton's right ahead!" Touya put his feet above the firm ground. He stretched one hand out to help Bianca off the bird pokemon. But even when he was holding her she still found a way out to fall to the ground – And take him along with her. "Bianca! For once in your life, be more careful!" The boy shook the dust from his clothes with jerky movements. She stared at him with tears in eyes, her vision blurred.

"I'm such a troublesome girl… What did you see in me?" She whispered using her arms to hug her legs, bringing them closer to her body. The male trainer lifted one hand to touch her face gently, moving it up to her eyes to wipe the tears away.

"I feel good when I'm around you… You're beautiful, sweet, happy… I could spend the whole day listing your virtues!" As he cheered her up, they stood up. "Let's move on, we need to get her package at the market."

"Yes, Honey… Do you know anything about Touko? She didn't contact us…" Bianca asked curiously.

"No, but I think we can try to contact her now!" He exposed his wrist to see the X-transceiver. "Now, here… Looks like it is out of range, or maybe she turned it off…" He looked at his girlfriend. "Give it a try!" Touya pointed at her device.

"Ok… Let me see…" She sighed in frustration. "Touya, I'm worried, now! I never lost contact with her like this before…" She tried her best, but it didn't work.

"Fortunately, I know Touko well enough to know she won't have problems out there! Let's wait and we can talk to her later!" The brown haired boy used reason to help calm his girlfriend a bit. 'I hope we don't meet Skyla!' Both of them thought while entering the City.

"Look Bianca! My X-transcrever is ringing! It must be Touko!" He was anxious to answer the call but it was Professor Juniper, much for his dismay.

"Where's my package, Touya?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I just arrived in Mistralton, Professor! I'm not the Flash from the justice league!" He smirked ironically.

"Yeah, I can see you're not, no need to tell me… Well, I'm right here waiting! Go get it! Bye!" The screen went all black and Touya removed the device from his wrist.

"I'll do just like Touko did, I'm turning it off! She's a smart girl!" He put the X-transceiver inside his pocket.

"Touyaaaa! The market! Let's get it and go back to Nuvema!" Bianca rushed to the market holding the boy's hand. Once there, they talked to the salesman and after some minutes he handed over the box. When they were exiting the market Bianca's X-transceiver rang.

"It's Touko!" She yelled to make sure that Touya would listen to her. "Toukooo! What took you so long?" The blond girl asked.

"Well, hmm… Actually, a lot of things happened! I wanted to talk to you, guys…. I have so much to say!" The brunette explained.

"Where are you?" Bianca said excitedly.

"I'm not deaf, Bianca! Look, I'm in Mistralton… I'll stay here for the night. Tell the others I'm fine." The blue eyed girl informed her.

"Oh, that's great! I am in Mistralton too! And Touya's with me… Where are you?" The impatient blond girl needed her answers.

"I'm at the Pokemon Center… I had to heal my friends, they had a tough battle!" Touko explained.

"Oh! I want to know everything about this battle! See you soon, Toukooo!" She turned off the call and turned to Touya. "Let's head to the Pokemon Center!"

"Professor Juniper will have me for dinner if we don't go back now! She's got a bad temper today… Perhaps those mood swings have something to do with her menopause…" The boy said being serious.

"Touya! She's not that old…Well… Hmm… Now you got me!" Bianca didn't know how old the Professor is.

"Let's see Touko! Professor will kill me anyway…" Touya changed his mind and they walked to the Center.

…...

"Will you introduce me to your friends, Touko?" N asked nervously.

"They already know you, N… Everyone here in Unova knows you quite well!" She tried to comfort him but it only got worse.

"But they all hate me! Everybody hates me! I'm the fallen Plasma King… Everybody despises me…" He shrugged and tears started to form in his eyes.

"No, N! It's not like that! You're a good person… People only need to have the chance to know you better!" She got closer to him. "Do you think I hate you, N?" She stared into his innocent eyes.

"N-no… you're the only one I trust… And…" He was interrupted by her X-transceiver.

"Oh…" She touched the screen to answer it. "Hello, Skyla!" The girl waved to the gym leader who saw her through the device.

"Hi again Touko! I'm calling to tell you that Clay got some important information about Tornadus… He told me he was informed that something is going on around the Abundant Shrine. Clay also said he is going back to Driftveil, so he asked me to assist you in his place… And I gladly accepted it!" Skyla made Touko aware of the situation. The young girl stood up abruptly. "But, wait for me Touko! I can see you're inside the Pokemon Center! So, I'll be there in a minute… And I'll go to the Abundant Shrine with you, too!"

"I'll be waiting! Thank you so much, Skyla!" The gym leader disappeared from the screen. Touko sat again. She was tired and had no energy left. "This day was too much for me…" She frowned and groaned when she remembered she still would have to face the worst part of her day – Bianca and Skyla's hostile encounter.

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><p>AN: Sweet! Another flawlessly revised chapter! My eternal thanks to Snare646 for Beta'ing this!

Readers, my thank you so very much rolled in granulated sugar! With love and care!


	5. Chapter 4

I do not own pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 4<strong>

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><p>The moon was showing all its glory in the sky when the night fell over Mistralton City. The only noises someone could hear came from the cargo planes landing and taking off flights at the airport.<p>

But at the Pokemon Center…

"Damn! It's my entire fault! Damn!" The girl complained hitting her own head against the table.

"W-what are you doing, Touko? You'll get hurt! Stop it now!" N pulled her closer and held her tight, so that she wouldn't be able to harm herself anymore. Feeling his strong arms around her, she surrendered even before she could try to struggle against his grip. He smelled so good, something she couldn't describe, but it was like lust, love and passion turned into a mysterious sweet fragrance. She softened and snuggled into his warm embrace. He whispered at her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

"You did nothing wrong! No need to punish yourself like this." He gently rubbed her arm, his beautiful green eyes locking into her blue ones. Her cheeks flushed, but she didn't bother to avert his gaze. For the first time in her life, she felt she belonged to someone, and she wouldn't let anything spoil that special moment. When she was about to gently stroke his face, she came back to reality. A piercing voice stabbed her ears as daggers while it called her name.

'_I never thought I could hate my own name like this one day…'_ Her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance and she rose to her feet.

"Touko! We were sooo worried about you!" Bianca hugged her. But this time she didn't squeeze the other girl too much.

"I was mad at you Bianca, but just because you gave me a decent hug for the first time in your life, I'll go easy on you!" The two girls giggled with this, but the blond one stopped as she saw the green haired man, leaving Touko laughing alone. Touya joined his girlfriend as they both stared at N. Their jaws dropped and eyes widened.

"You didn't tell us he was w-with you…" Toyua hardly said.

"You were going to find out anyway…" She calmly sat again. "Have a seat! I'll tell you what happened today!" She happily invited her friends to join her and N. "Well, today I found Thundurus at route 7. It was a lot for me to handle, but N came just in time to avoid my death and…" Bianca gasped and the brown haired boy cut her off.

"Hey, hey! Slow down, girl! What do you mean with 'avoid my death'?" He hoped she was only being dramatic and started to interrogate her.

"It was a terrifying lightning bolt that almost hit me…"

"Do you think you're a pokemon to go into a battle like that?"

"No! Sure I wasn't going to battle! I just tried to save emolga from that mess… I still have to train her better to let her battle against such powerful pokemon!"

"Then, just call her back to the Poke Ball!"

"What if she didn't want to come back, hun? Emolga wasn't obeying me!"

"So, It's all your fault. But… why did you send her out?"

"To eat apples… Then she ran away and I went after her. That's when we found Thundurus…"

"Fine." He processed the informations and glanced at the young man sitting beside Touko. He was watching the situation like he would watch a ping pong game. His eyes were moving from side to side to keep up with them. "How are you, N?" Toyua softened the firm voice he was using before not to startle the young man. N stared at Touko, but he didn't turn his head to her. She just nodded at him.

"I'm fine, Thank you." He gave a short answer.

"Are you still into that liberation stuff?" His brown eyes narrowed as he waited for the response.

"That depends..." He gave a brief pause before adding "I still want to root out pokemon abuse. But I wanted to do this the wrong way before… Now I'm thinking about how I'll eradicate this problem once and for all!" The young man explained. The place was silent for a while, but Touko broke the silence trying to ease the tension.

"Toyua please… He won't try anything stupid again! He just thinks that those bad trainers must be punished severely! Pokemon abuse is crime!" She had a pleading look. The boy stood up, index finger pointing at her and yelled in anger. His face wore an expression that Touko had never seen before, causing her to flinch at his so unknown act.

"YOU… YOU…" Toyua barked to let the suspense rise, and then he broke the expectation of an imminent fight. "You must think I'm Cheren to start some drama over the former King of Team Plasma!" He sat down again and grinned. He had this all in mind and just wanted to play a bit with them.

"Oh my! One more second and I would really think you were serious…!" The brunette laughed in relief as her friends joined her in her act. And yes! N was laughing too. Even though he had no idea why he was doing that, he did it. He wanted to improve his social life.

"That's it, N. I don't bite! Unlike Touko…" Touya teased the girl and she rose from her seat to take him by the collar of his jacket, shaking him back and forth.

"I'll make you regret this, you idiot! You just wait" She narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel a fool right in front of your boyfriend!"

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!" She got all nervous, shaking him quite faster than before.

"Am I not your friend, Touko?" N asked her with his innocent eyes filled with deception and sadness. She instantly turned her attention to him, letting Touya go.

"Sure I'm your friend! No more silly questions!" She gave him no space to ask another of his complex questions. That's when Bianca finally showed herself up.

"Touya is my boyfriend! We do things that friends do!" She tried to help the green haired man to understand a little bit about it. .

"And other kind of things that friends don't…" The brown eyed boy smirked widely and winked, causing his girlfriend to pull her beret down to hide her reddened face.

"Ok, the moment is not appropriate!" Touko giggled gesturing him to stop but he kept going.

"N, I'll give you some tips to…"

"TOYUA, SHUT UP!" The blue eyed girl cut him off and he laughed.

"So… Honey, we'd better go back to Nuvema. I'm already in trouble with the professor and now Touko wants to kill me too… That's too much for me." The boy stood up and took the package he put underneath the table.

"Ooow… But Professor isn't angry, otherwise she would have called you already…" The blond girl told him, not wanting to go.

"I turned my X-transcrever off, don't you remember?" He pulled the device from his pocket and showed it to her.

"Yeah, you'd better go, Touya! And apologize to Professor Juniper for you rudeness! We'll meet later." Touko waved to them. The brown eyed boy just nodded and took his girlfriend's hand.

"Sure thing! But I'm not so sure about apologizing! Hahaha! N, nice to meet you again! Take care you two!" He said and they turned the other way. That's when they met a familiar face, it was Skyla – Bianca was disgusted. The gym leader stared at them and she saw their hands latched together. An awkward silence seemed to last forever when no one there wanted to speak.

"Touya… It's been a while…" She smiled sadly. "How are you?" Her voice faded to a whisper when she gave her all not to cry in public. They were holding each other's hand, and that simple act made words useless.

"I-I'm ok! Thank you, Skyla… And… you?" He stammered – Something that was totally unlike him.

"Well I'm… just going…" The woman knew she lost the battle, but not the war. "I missed you so much!" Now she had a defying smirk adorning her face. Bianca felt sick over her teasing and clasped tightly his hand in hers till it hurts, warning him about her distress.

"Well, hmm… I ought to go now, Professor is waiting for me… See you, then!" The couple walked a few steps but the gym leader wasn't willing to let him leave easily. She didn't turn their way to face them.

"Touya, you know you can do better! You're dating her just out of pity… Last time I saw you, you were trying your best to cheer her up from her heartache! She liked your friend Cheren and he turned her down! Did you think I forgot this? That was exactly when things started to change between us…" Bianca gritted her teeth together, the tears were already spilling along her face. Toyua cuddled the blond girl, whispering sweet things in her ear. He always does that when she's feeling down and when he just wants to. Up till then Touko and N were quiet watching the scene, but the girl got up from her seat when she heard Bianca sobbing. The young man followed her.

"Why are you doing this to her, Skyla? She did nothing to you!" The blue eyed girl placed herself between the couple and the gym leader. She looked down at her and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Touko… But truth must be told! I had this stuck in my throat since the very beginning of all this! Would you please tell her… Touya?" Touko gave him a confused look. He refused.

"Bianca won't like to hear this, so… I'll spare her from further trouble." The boy decided, he was calm as ever.

"Don't worry about me, dear, I'm alright!" She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears, struggling to have guts to face the situation.

"I know every single detail about this already!" Touko informed the gym leader, but she wouldn't refrain from telling her version.

"Looks like you don't since you stated she did nothing to me! Touko, I first saw Touya in Castelia City… That day I was off to visit my friend Burgh, you know, we, the gym leaders, are always visiting each other as soon as we get the chance. Well, I saw Burgh, we chatted and said goodbye… Then, I wanted to spend a little more time in such big city, loitering all the way home… And that's when I took sight of the famous Casteliacone, that popular ice cream stand! I drove myself right over there in order to taste it but the street was as crowded as ever and some impatient man was shoving his way through the crowd… The force he was applying caught me off guard, and I fell on the ground, embarrassed when the thud hit the people's ears. I became the center of the attentions…" She braced herself as the flashback crossed her mind. She didn't want to cry in front of them, especially – him. Surprisingly, Touya continued from where the woman had stopped.

"Several people started to gather around, blabbing and grumbling at the same time… I couldn't manage to understand what was going on, so I hardly made my way among people, being harsh when it was necessary. Then, I finally saw her… She was lying on the ground and her hand was over her lower back. Her acts told me she was suffering from humbling and physical pain. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the scene, I heard they saying that seeing a gym leader in such situation was so rare… I have to say my blood overheated at those cold words! I moved forward and stretched one hand out to help her getting up. Once she stood tall I turned to the large crowd and said…"

"'Why don't you guys stare at your own selves instead? You are the ones who deserve a look of disapproval about not being able to even help this lady here!' I remember as if it was yesterday… After that, the crowd dissipated and he took my hand, leading me to a fountain located at the end of the street, where he told me to wait for him. He bought me a Casteliacone and we spent the whole afternoon talking about a lot of things… So, as the days went by, we started to get really intimate and we…"

*Cough* Touya cleared his throat. "Skyla, I think that's enough! Thank you for entertaining us!" The boy put a solid tone of sarcasm to the last statement.

"You're welcome, Toyua!" The gym leader answered, returning the sarcasm. "That's it, Touko… We had something, and then… He suddenly got a girlfriend, and what about ME? He didn't EVEN tell me… HE CHEATED ON ME!" The woman lost control, not caring about the curious eyes and gossips around her. The brown haired boy shrugged, biting his lower lip. Touko sighed sharply and let her head hang down, her chin nearly touched her chest.

"I see... My friend Touya didn't tell you about his new relationship… It was his fault not to make you aware of this…" The young girl understood Skyla's reasons. She looked at her friend with a peripheral vision and this was effective enough to notice that the gym leader's words got him completely cornered.

"I-I..." He thought about a million and one reasons to explain his failure, but he didn't want to lie. He had simply forgotten about the bond they once had, though he had never meant to hurt her. "I'm sorry, Skyla… I acknowledge it was really my fault! I was so sure it was over, so… I didn't bother to tell you I was dating someone else…" He sighed, praying for the earth to open a fissure underneath and swallow him to its depths, so that it wouldn't remain a single trace of his presence there.

"Fine, Touya… I'm sure you will leave that gawky little childhood friend of yours! As soon as your relationship starts to pall on you!" She chuckled and felt confidence filling her mind and soul again.

"YOU'D BETTER NOT KEEP YOUR FALSE HOPES, YOU… HEARTLESS WOMAN!" Bianca shouted, not hiding her tear stained face. Toyua pulled her closer, tightening his arms around the blond girl.

"Skyla, you do have right and reason to talk any word you want against me, but there'll be no holding back if you involve Bianca in this mess!" The boy warned her, though using violence was totally off the table for him. Bianca spun around and Touya loosened his grip around her, she took the chance to break free and rush towards the exit door. The boy didn't waste a second to chase after her, taking time only to get the package laid close to his feet and hurry to the door.

"I'LL MEET YOU LATER, I PROMISE! BYE FOR NOW, FRIENDS!" He yelled but his voice was fading, resembling the Doppler Effect as he ran away, receding from Skyla, Touko and N.

"There he goes…" Skyla whispered, frustrated. She turned to the young couple behind her. Her eyes widened in disbelief when she recognized the famous green haired man that stood beside the brunette.

"… Oh Arceus… Is he… The Plasma King?" She blinked several times.

"Hmm… Yes, because it's the same person! And no, because he's not the Plasma King anymore!" The young girl answered in his place. He was too confused to even know who he was after all that stir. "And before you ask, I'll say he changed his ideals! Pokemon liberation is over!" She threw her hands up.

"In this case, welcome back, N! I'm glad you changed your mind!" The gym leader gave him a thumb up, and he just nodded thanking her. She suddenly frowned and placed her fingers in her forehead, using them to massage it with circular motions. "Well, I've just got a headache… Forgive me, Touko… But I have my reasons! Now I just want to rest my head over my pillow and sleep to forget this… I came here only to talk about that serious subject, and it all ended up like this…" She shook her head and gave the young girl an apologetic look. "I'll see you tomorrow when we go look for Tornadus and Landorus! Good night you two!" Skyla yawned, rubbed her eyes and turned on her heels to walk back to the gym.

"Oooowww… I'm shattered to pieces… What a day!" Touko snapped her fingers together right in front of N's face. "Hey, Pensive boooy… Let's get a room! We need to get some sleep too!" He looked down at her and smiled shyly.

"I don't understand why you all were acting so weird…" The young man crossed his arms, pouting. She melted when she looked at him, her heart beating like crazy. "Touko? Tooouko?" She's got her head up in the clouds and he called her back to earth. "Hey, pensive girl!" He imitated her speech and gesture.

"Oh! I'm j-just drowsy… Let's ask for a room!" Touko blushed and strode fast to the counter where Nurse Joy was waiting.

"Good night! Welcome to the Pokemon Center!" She voiced that famous text she always says over and over again in all the Pokemon games.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy, but my pokemon are healthy already… I just wanted to borrow a room… Better off, two rooms, pleease!" She childishly leaned over the counter and placed her elbows on it, propping her head up in her hands.

"Fine… Just give me a second!" Nurse Joy turned around to access the PC, her index finger touched its screen to achieve the files she was looking for saved within the system. "I'm afraid I'll have only one room left available…" The nurse said, eyes still fixated on the screen.

"Good! We're taking the…" She froze while she processed the information. "WHAAAAT? ONE ROOM LEFT?" She leaned even more over the counter, pressing her stomach against it.

"Unfortunately, that's my final offer… If you're not taking it, there is a bunch of trainers right over there that will occupy it for sure… Oh! Here they come!" She pointed to the trainers as they made their way to the Nurse.

"Ooow! Hey! We're taking it! We got here first!" The girl yelled, catching Nurse Joy's attention.

"Well, in fact, we were the last ones to get here, Touko…" N grabbed her arm gently as he explained.

"Oh Arceus! Relax, N! Don't take it all too serious like that!" She was often trying to save him from his old ways. "Nurse Joy… We're gonna stay here for the night!" Touko gave space and Nurse Joy passed by them, holding the key of the room they were going to share.

The closer they got, the more her heart rate increased. Never in her wildest dreams had she imagined herself all alone in a room with the man she had a crush on. She was saying "Oh boy!" in every step she took. Nurse Joy stopped before the door and inserted the key in the lock with the other hand upon the knob, opening it.

"Here!" The Nurse gestured for them to enter. She came closer to them and muttered. "I'm not allowed to let boys and girls in the same room, but… I can't say no to such a perfect pairing! Good night… Hero and Heroine!" Nurse Joy handed over the key and exited the room, closing the door. They could hear her singing a sweet love song, and its lyrics made Touko think about her and N.

'_This song… Our story… My feelings…' _The song played inside her head as the scenes perfectly matched the lyrics.

Inside the room, there were two beds next to each other with a soft rug laid between them. Behind the beds, there was a large window, covered by a beautiful blue curtain. Also, there were one wardrobe and another door. The room was simple but too neat, cozy and warm.

Touko was distracted by her own thoughts, unaware of the nice room she was in. But reality crashed upon her when she saw N undressing himself right in front of her. Her dilemma was whether to advise him not to do that in front of people, so as to teach him to get undress only in private and losing this golden opportunity, or to pretend that she wasn't watching him while he was removing his clothes, taking advantage of his innocence and feeling guilty thereafter. She couldn't be selfish, her love for him was stronger than lust. She sighed and walked his way, so fidgety and nervous. Her cheeks were red and she started to sweat. It almost made her swoon when he turned around and her nose almost met his bare chest. He was about to unfasten his zipper to take his slacks off but the girl seized hold of his hand, yet reluctantly.

"Hm? What is it, Touko?" N asked her, his voice was soothing. He was enjoying the contact of her delicate skin around his wrist.

"Her… N… Y-you can't undress when there is someone a-around you..." She lifted her hand up to prevent her eyes from seeing it, but she was still looking at him through her fingers. N blushed at the awkward situation.

"I-I'm sorry… I never had someone around me like this before, so… I didn't know it was wrong…" He smiled sheepishly.

'_Oh my… He's perfection!' _His simple acts always were effective enough to knock her off her feet.

"I'm going to shower…" He told her, still embarrassed. He really needed to arrange his conflicting thoughts. The young man felt a strange feeling growing inside of him. '_It's so confusing when you start to feel things you had never felt before…' _He pondered as he tried to solve this new equation he had since the day he met Touko for the first time.

(N's POV)

She brings colours to my life! She's the white light dispersed by a prism to produce this fantastic spectrum of colours, saving me from that monotonous black and white world I was living in… Colours with hues, way different from those achromatic ones!

I remember our final battle. She defeated both me and Ghetsis, and then he told me the truth, that rotten truth was something I really wasn't expecting. How he dares to use, betray and lie to his only son! This is revolting… He caused me so much pain in order to achieve his evil goals! I don't know if I would be able to forgive him one day… I don't even know what I'm supposed to do if I meet him again, face to face. Thanks to Alder and Touko's weird friend, Cheren, he was out of my sight in a matter of seconds. Rightly or wrongly, I just couldn't stand him any longer… But I only needed to look into her oceanic blue eyes and everything felt so right again. Her smile boosted my confidence back, but I still felt like I had to go… I wasn't good enough for her, I was… wrecked… ashamed… I needed to go and see the world I had never seen before, I needed to find new ideals, something to rely on! I noticed she was fighting back tears as I walked to the hole that Reshiram opened on the wall. I stopped and told her _'You said you have a dream… That dream… Make it come true! Wonderful dreams and ideals give you the power to change the world! If anyone can, it's you! Well, then… Farewell!' _I don't need to say that it was killing me, it was so clear… The fact of leaving her… I had to fight back tears too, in order to be strong, to grow up! She remained static… And as my Reshiram made its way through the skies, she was standing there, still looking away – The place I was heading.

When I was travelling from region to region I realized that I never had to go so far to see the world because she… She is my world…

…...

N was thinking about a lot of things while he was showering and Touko was waiting outside, lying in bed. She'd been waiting about thirty minutes for him to finish his bath and let her in to take hers.

"If it was my mother she would ask me if I was dead… She loves a drama" She giggled, missing her mom. She got up and made her way to the door, knocking on it and asking in a sweet manner "Harmoniaaaa… Are you still alive? I need to shower, too!" She chuckled and heard his answer from the inside.

"Whiteeee… I finished it, already! Do I still need to say if I'm alive or not?" He seemed to be getting used to this. With that, he wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the door. He was all wet. His beautiful green hair framed perfectly his handsome face and enhanced the innocent look in his green eyes, contrasting to his bare chest, which was driving the brunette crazy again.

"N… Please, don't do that way…" Touko was begging him, knowing she wouldn't resist this torture for so long.

"Hum? Did I do anything wrong?" His eyes widened.

"I-I mean, don't spend so much time in shower!" The girl got her towel and prepared for bath. She closed the door and wondered how his expression would be like if she undressed herself in front of him. _'Guess I'll have to find out…' _She muttered, biting her index finger.

* * *

><p><strong>Hope you liked it! <strong>

**A/N: Cheren broke Bianca's heart and Touya was the one to take care of her when she most needed someone around... So, they fell in love! The later chapters will provide more information about the bygone days... And the future, sure! =D **

**Maybe I'll take two weeks for the next chapter... =/**

**See ya!**


	6. Chapter 5

I do not own pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 5<strong>

"I… I… Ugh! I hate to say that I hate someone, but I… I HATE THAT WOMAN!" Bianca told Touya when they had just arrived in Nuvema Town.

"I know since it's the only thing you've been talking about, sweetheart!" The boy called his Braviary back. "I have to face the beast now!" He got the package in his arms.

They walked to the lab, along the street. It was getting really late and Bianca needed to go home right away or else she would have problems with her parents. They had already got used to her independence as they granted autonomy to their daughter. But when she's dating someone, things are totally different.

At the end of the street they saw a familiar face, though it was a bit dark for them to see it, they could recognize him anywhere.

"What on earth happened to you? Professor Juniper is waiting, Touya!"

"We had some problems there that kept us stuck in city… But it was no big deal at all!" The brown eyed boy explained.

"Whatever… I think you should drop by the lab now!" Cheren gestured for him to go using his head.

"Oww man!" He was physically and mentally prepared for this, but he just wanted to go home. "I have no choice, so… Let's go! And you two must come along to save me from her fury or simply witness my death!" Touya chuckled a bit.

"Oh, come on, honey! She's not that bad…" Sometimes Bianca can't tell irony and seriousness apart.

"If you do die… I want your pokemon, Touya! They are strong!" Cheren poked the brown haired boy with his elbow.

"Yeeah… I'll think about it… But I'd better give them to N! I'm sure he would treat my pokemon way better than you would!" Touya sneered.

Now they stood outside the lab, and the cold breeze of the night softly caressed their hairs. Silence there.

"Excuse-me, what did you say, my friend?" He moved his glasses forward with his thumb and index finger pressing the material in between. He also raised a single brow.

"I had already said a lot of things in my life… Most of them I can't even remember!"

"Don't make a fool of me! Why did you mention N and why…"

Touya didn't show interest in answering Cheren, he just opened the door's lab and got in. Bianca followed her boyfriend and left Cheren gabbling on the outside.

"Professor… Here's your packag…" He was interrupted by a booming laughter, turning his head in slow motion to the center of the 'explosion'.

"Oh! Hahahaha! Ok dear, put it on the desk!" She neither saw nor listened to him. Touya, Bianca, and then, Cheren, stopped and stared at the scene, all mouths agape. Juniper and Sinnoh's Professor, Rowan, were sitting on the sofa, chatting and laughing really loud. They seemed very… intimate.

"Good night, kids! Nice to meet you! I'm Rowan from Sinnoh and I've heard a lot about you!" He introduced himself, leaning to take a better look at them. He is really a tall man.

'I swear I saw this man on her facebook page the other day!' The brown haired boy thought. "Eeeer… And what sorts of things have you heard about us?" He asked, inserted tightly in between his childhood friends like a sandwich in which Bianca and Cheren were two slices of bread and Touya its filling, such as meat.

"Professor Juniper told me you're like her own children!" The man removed Touya's cap and gently rubbed his head, making a mess of his hair.

"I'll appreciate your tenderness since you put my cap back on my head, at least…"

"Aargh… Toyua's the champion when it comes to embarrassing people around him… I always try to pretend that I don't know him, and coincidentally that's the only situation when he comes to hug me, telling the four winds he's my best friend! The boy in glasses facepalmed.

"Yeah! I need to have a good reason to hug a man since I don't like to touch men!" The brown haired boy explained.

"Don't listen to him, darling! Cheren, you envy him because he's always sincere and honest!" The blonde girl crossed her arms, stretching her tongue out in a childlike manner.

"Even and especially when it's not necessary!" Cheren retorted.

"… Your kids are really special, my dear Juniper!" Rowan laughed, putting Toyua's cap back on his head, as he wanted. "But… You told me they were four… One's still missing… The other girl!" His face lit when he remembered.

"Oh… That's Touko! She's helping me out with my research right now! That one I told you." Juniper turned to the man, with laughing eyes.

"Heeey Professooor! I've been dragging myself around with this stuff in hands, and now I want to get rid of it! This package will even be able to come after me once we were sharing a good bond already!" He awaited her response. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and exhaled the air with a hiss, trying to keep composure when the boy was going beyond the bounds of an acceptable behavior.

"Toyua… I told you to put it on THAT desk! Or are you deaf, now?" She pointed to the desk behind her.

"Oooh ahh! Yeah! I remember! I got distracted… when I saw his hand on your thigh!" He smirked and gave her a mischievous look. Juniper blushed beet red, losing her tongue after that.

"TOYUA!" Bianca yelled, hands covering her parted lips. "You're lacking discretion today! That's awful!"

"TODAY? Seriously, do repeat it, Bianca!" He couldn't believe her words. "He's always indiscreet!" Cheren alerted her that she was wrong.

"No quarreling now, please! We must make an impression on this remarkable Professor here!" Juniper stretched both arms in a attempt to keep them quiet.

"Be sure I'm impressed, dear Juniper! And please… You know you don't have to be formal around me!" He put his hand, now, over her shoulder.

"I was about to say something that had just crossed my mind now, but… I'll keep my mouth shut!" Toyua made his way to the desk with a smirk curving one side of his lips. Cheren and Juniper threw their hands up, thanking heavens. The boy laid the package there and turned to Professor Juniper.

"What's inside this box? I'm curious!"

"Poke Balls."

"Hmm… WHAT? POKE BALLS? YOU MADE ME GO THAT FAR TO GET YOU ONLY ORDINARY POKE BALLS? If I knew it I would have bought them in Acumulla Town! It's way closer!" He slid his hands inside his pockets and looked down, shaking his head, as if to show everyone he was frustrated, though he was just acting in jest. "But… I forgive you, Professor!"

"Oh really? Well, I was sooo worried, Toyua! Now I can sleep peacefully tonight!" She was starting to play his game. "So, that's all for today and I think you should walk your girlfriend home since it's getting late!" She added.

"Late?" He took his X-transcrever. "… It's only nearing midnight!" He thought a little bit more. "But I'm going! I'm a good guy and I'll safely take my angel home! Also, I'm going to leave you all alone with Professor Rowan!" With this, Cheren grabbed his friend's arm.

"Professor Rowan… I'm glad to meet you and… I'm sorry it had to be this way!" His eyes turned to Touya, darting daggers at him, and then, to the male Professor, eyes now sparkling in admiration. "I admire your researches about pokemon evolution!"

"It's ok, kid! I'm very pleased to see a child like you nowadays! And Touya, isn't it? You have attitude! And made me laugh a lot today! I want you all to know that you'll be always welcome at my lab in Sandgem Town." The man saw Bianca. She was silent, like she had no tongue. The blonde girl was thinking about her overprotective parents. The man came closer to her.

"Sweet girl… Take care of your frisky boyfriend!" He gently patted the top of her head. She looked up at him, lowering her chin and simpered.

"Thank you, Professor Rowan! I will! It's nice to meet you!" Bianca coyly replied.

"Cheren! Now you can arrest me and take me to the jail the same way you did to Ghetsis that day!" Touya couldn't help teasing his friend about it while the boy in glasses was holding him by the arm.

"Go now! Go! Go! I want and deserve some peace here!" Juniper dismissed them. "I still have so much work to do today, but I'm lucky Rowan is here to help me!" They exchanged smiles.

"Hmmmm! His presence here will make you concentrate on anything else, but the studies!" Toyua grinned, feeling really clever and puffed out his chest, proud of himself. He wiped out his grin from face when he saw Juniper grabbing a broom and looking his way. He immediately exited the lab and heard the Professor slamming the door right behind him.

"Hey! I survived!"

"Looks like you have another thing coming… Let's see if you can survive Bianca's parents!" Cheren hit his index finger against Toyua's chest.

"Problems, problems!" He shrugged, felling uncomfortable.

"Those kinds of situations make me feel relived about not having a girlfriend."

"Hm-hum! It's about time for you to go look for someone else, Cheren!" The brown haired boy made a wave of the hand, gesturing his girlfriend to wait and then he turned to his friend, pushing him to walk some steps ahead, and fading his voice to a whisper. "What's wrong, Cheren? Are you still waiting for Touko? She doesn't like you the way you like her!"

"Doesn't like me? Harsh saying! But I'm interested in another gir…"He swallowed his words back, before he could make a mistake. Touya's eyes widened in surprise.

"Come on, pal! It's just you and me! Tell me! Who is she? Do I know her?"

"Please, Touya… I'd rather keep this to myself for the time being…"

"Why? I can even help you if…"

"NO, YOU CAN'T!"

Cheren broke the conversation and started to walk, going away. Touya remained stiff, staring at the other boy while he disappeared through the veil of the cold night. He thought Cheren's behavior was really suspicious, and it started to annoy him.

'Why didn't he want to tell me this? He's my best male friend… I know he is too reserved about his personal life, but… What the…'

"Honey, what's going on?" Bianca snaked her arms around Touya's waist, caressing his back, next to his shoulder, with her head.

"Bianca…" His voice was serious, but soft.

"Yes?"

"…"

"Touya?"

"Hm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes… I'm fine…"

"Do you want to tell me something?"

"I do."

"What is it, then?"

"I love you."

She blushed and smiled to herself. His blessed confession brought tears to her eyes and she tightened her embrace around him. Her arms were crossed over his stomach and he gently stroked her skin. Even though they had started to date in just about a few weeks ago, they felt the intensity of a lifetime. It was the first time that he had said this to someone, it was the first time she had heard this. She had already said this to someone, but she had her heart broken in a million pieces, and still carried scars. This time, it was mutual. This time was the real first time. She cried tears of joy when she finally said…

"I love you too!"

Touya turned to Bianca and lifted her chin up with his hand, using the other to cup her face and wipe the tears away. He leaned a bit to plant a soft kiss on her lips, pulling her closer to him. She rested one hand on his nape and the other, sliding underneath his arm, was placed on his shoulder blade as they deepened the kiss. Things started to heat up and Touya pulled his head backwards, both gasping for air. Bianca scowled and pouted.

"Don't look at me like this, my love…"

"I was in heaven, darling! It always feels so good to my body…"

"I know, I know… But I had to stop now or else I wouldn't be able to stop it later…" He sighed. "You know we can't go any further! Let's go, I'll take you home." He offered his hand to her and she nodded, taking it. She leaned along his arm and rested her head on his shoulder while they were walking.

"Thank you." She whispered and he kissed her forehead.

"You're always welcome."

…...

Touko made her way to the bed and dove over it, grumbling something to herself. She took the pillow and put her head completely into it.

'I just can't… I can't! I don't have what it takes to do it!' She was mentally cursing herself about being coward. N was sitting on the other bed with his back leaning against the wall, he was reading a book. The girl was visibly disturbed and he noticed it.

"Touko… Do you need something? I can go and get or do it for you…" He asked her in a worried tone.

'Yes! I need YOU!' No, she didn't say it. She just thought. "Nmm, mhmnnhm!" She answered, voice muffled by the pillow.

"Please, I need you to remove the pillow from your face so that I can hear you better!" She slowly did so and rolled her body over the bed. She was lying there, looking at the ceiling.

"I said… No, I don't!" Touko turned her eyes to him and saw the book in his hand. She leapt from the bed and ran towards his, jumping over it. The bump caused the mattress to move up and down and they fell over the bed, laughing hard.

"I-I'm… Hahaha… s-s haha… s-sorry!" She barely could say.

"No problem… It was so good! I'm having fun!" He said, lying beside her.

"Yes it was…" She blushed. "What is this book about?"

"Ah, I found it inside that drawer…" He pointed to one of the wardrobe's drawers. "It's a romance novel…" Touko lifted a hand up to turn the book to her.

"Love and Hatred by Anissa Shauntal… Just as I expected."

"That one of the elite four?"

"Exactly! Tell me about it…"

"Well, I haven't finished it, yet, but… With this I could understand what happened to your friend!"

"Touya?" She asked, he nodded. "Wow! So, this book is magic!"

"Sometimes love hurts more than hate… People need to take control over themselves in order to…" He flipped some pages as if he was looking for something he had seen before. "Here! Hmm… In order to keep a good and healthy relationship!"

"It's so cute to hear you talking about feelings and relationships!"

"It may sound weird, but… I'm studying this!" He turned his head away, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Don't be like that! It's good you're studying it!"

"Then, teach me a bit more! Have you ever had…" N took a deep breath before continuing. He didn't know if he really wanted to ask this once he feared her answer. His heart was pounding strongly, he felt like it was going out of his ribs. The young man audibly gulped down the air, in nervousness.

"N? You're getting all sweaty! What's the matter?"

"If only I knew…"

"You were going to ask me something, right?"

"Yes…" He inhaled deeply again. "Touko… Have you ever had a… boyfriend?" She really didn't expect this kind of question coming from him and her sapphire blue eyes gained width.

"Well, I…"

"Look at the time! We need to sleep, Touko!" He cut her off, even more nervous. His stomach was so cold that it could be compared to a refrigerator.

"Do you know what a boyfriend is, N?" The girl insisted.

"I do. I read it here… It explains a lot of things I didn't know before and…"

"I've never had a boyfriend." Now it was her turn to interrupt the continuity of his speech. She gave him a small smile and got up from his bed, walking to hers. N was left speechless as he stared at her. She gave him the answer he wanted so bad to hear.

"Touko, I…"

"Look at the time, N! We need to sleep, good night!" The girl placed herself at rest in a flat position and curled over the bed, spreading the blanket to cover her face. N had so much on his mind that he wouldn't be able to sleep properly. He sighed and leaned his back against the wall again.

"Good night…"

…...

N wasn't the only one that wouldn't manage to sleep that night.

Toyua entered his house and made his way across the living room to reach the stairs. When he was going upstairs, his mother turned the lights on.

"Oh, dear! Where were you?"

"Mom, I'm fine… And I'm in no mood to talk, ok?" He went downstairs again and walked over to his mother to kiss her forehead. "Good night, mom! I love you!" He turned on his heels, making his way to his room.

"I love you, darling!" She said, worried about her child.

When he got in his room, he slammed the door shut behind him. He went straight ahead, passing by the desk where he threw the key he was holding and continued on, taking his clothes off to shower. When he was done with bathing he put some fresh clothes on and fell over his bed.

(Touya's POV)

I can't seem to understand why Cheren refused to tell me who's the girl he's interested in. The way he acted was so strange… But… The main question is WHY? WHY DIDN'T HE TELL ME? In fact, I do have some hint… But I don't want to believe it! I don't want it to be, I want to be wrong! This is the first time in my whole life that I want to be wrong… I just can't think about anything else… or anyone else… Cheren likes Bianca now… MY BIANCA! That one he turned down! He's selfish… Just because she's WITH ME and she's happy now! He had the chance to be with her, but he wasted it away when all he could think of was Touko! I urged him to confess his feelings and he did so, but Touko could only see him as a friend, and nothing else. And when she started to fall for N, he noticed it and used Bianca to make Touko jealous, but she didn't give a damn.

When I knew this, I just… I would never let him play with her whenever he feels like, she's not his toy! So, I told Cheren to tell her the truth, or else I would tell her. He then obeyed me and fessed up, breaking her heart… It happened in Nimbasa City, at the Amusement Park. I had just won my sixth badge at Driftveil gym from Clay, and he called me saying that he did as I wanted him to'. I asked where she was and he said that she was at the Park, sitting on a bench. He left her to cry there… How I wanted to punch him! How could he be like that? I rushed back to Nimbasa to look for her. Who knows, she could make a mistake, I wouldn't waste a second! When I arrived there I still had to face the crowded place and started to look for her everywhere. It wasn't so difficult at all when I saw a particular sad face among all those cheerful ones. She had cried a river already and wasn't willing to talk to me. I sat beside her and pulled her closer to me to wrap my arms all around her. I lowered my voice to a whisper, saying that I would take care of her, and everything would be ok. When she got better, I took her to Mistralton City with me – My next challenge, in all the ways.

I had a hard time there when I entered the gym with Bianca walking beside me. I remember the way Skyla widened her eyes when she saw her. It was kinda funny! But I had to make things clear and told her that Bianca wasn't my girlfriend. Actually, we started to date about a month ago. Well, I had to go through a lot of things to be with Bianca and now that the dust has settled he wants her love again! I won't forgive him so easily if he dares to take her from me! He also said that he wanted to keep this to himself for the time being… What the hell does it mean? Is he planning something? Well, As long as he remains quiet, I will remain friendly around him…

….

_Thursday, 5:30 am._

The corridor was dim, as if morning hadn't arrived yet. So narrow that the walls seemed to be blocking the path ahead. But he stood and walked proudly along it as if he had never done anything wrong. A silver handcuff adorning his wrists.

"Captain, here he is!" The officer shoved the bad guy with an aggressive touch of his index finger against the man's back.

"Fine. We needed to transfer him to where the others are! You will be given time enough to regret every single sin of yours!" The captain played with his mustache while staring at the man before him. "We know you were stinking rich… So we provided you a special prison cell! Well, it's not like your gorgeous castle but... Hahaha! You don't have the right to feel comfortable here, anyway!" He looked at the cops. "Now, take him!"

The man remained silent. Two cops grabbed his arms and the others surrounded them. They led him to his cell, where he could see all the others prisoners there. They all stared at him, surprised. This time, the officer applied more pressure on his back, causing him to stumble forward and almost fall badly on the ground. The cop locked his cell and walked away. The prisoners were silent, watching him.

"It's been a while, Ghetsis!" A man named Giallo said.

"What's wrong with you? Where's that communicative man we once knew? That great disposition you had when you gave people all those speeches for the liberation's sake?" Zinzolin mocked the man while imitating his usual demeanor. Ghetsis didn't answer.

"I hope you're paying for what you've done!" Gorm shouted, stretching one arm out of his cell.

"I'm glad you're behind bars for your crimes, Ghetsis!" Another man named Rood cried out loud, they were trying to make Ghetsis say something, anything, at least. For this, they were provoking and defying him, doing the best they could. Giallo looked at Hunt, who was under his self-control, unlike the others that wanted to show the man all the hostility they could. Giallo noticed he had something to say.

"SILENCE!" The scream echoed through all the prisons cells. All the sages, and even the unresponsive Ghetsis turned their attentions to Giallo. He just gestured to the sage who stood inside the cell in front of him.

"Well Ghetsis… It's not like we're not guilty, but… We tried to escape and they tracked us down. We had some flawless hideouts that would help us running away from UNOVA as soon as we've got the perfect chance… But a little brat named… I just remember her last name, White… She found us and we were arrested!" Hunt explained.

"I heard that she's really close to N, my sage! Did you know he's back?" Giallo added.

"N… He came back to UNOVA?" Now the silent man broke his own silence.

"Whatever… You have never cared about him, anyway!" Hunt narrowed his eyes and the others sages nodded.

"Don't give me that look… I have nothing to do with all this!"

"Thanks to YOUR interrogation they were able to find us!" Hunt spat.

"I was arrested before I could know anything about your destinations, how can you even think that I told the police something I've never known?" All the sages pondered to conclude they had no answer to this.

"It seems he's right after all…" Ryoku sighed. "But we won't apologize, Ghetsis… I can't tell by the others, but I never liked the way you treated your son!" He continued.

"By the way… Why did he come back? I thought he wanted to see the world!" Zinzolin gave his opinion.

"Same here. I'm sure he must have a strong reason for this!" Bronius said.

"Maybe it's the girl… He's grown very fond of her since the first day they met!" Giallo looked at the bygone days and remembered how the young King changed somehow.

The seven sages started a discussion about N. Ghetsis got quiet again and rubbed his forehead, as if he was having a headache. He sat on a hard bench made of steel, not wanting to have contact with the cold dirty wall behind him, keeping some space there. After some minutes he gave up and let his back rest against the wall.

'It's neither colder not dirtier than… me…' He thought to himself, exhaling in a long breath. His grief was hard to bear.

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><p><strong>Rebelshippers would love it =D<strong>

**I'm already working on the next chapter and maybe it won't take so long. I think and hope... **

**Thank you guys! And I love you! 3**


	7. Chapter 6

**It was so hard but it's finally here. It's the longest chapter I've ever written, so it tired me a bit.**

**A/N: Cheren's last name is his italian name. German for Shauntal's.**

****I'm fixing some errors I found here... That's why I'm re-uploading! ;)****

**I didn't like it again - LoL! Now, the disclaimer...**

**I do not own pokemon. ****Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 6<strong>

"Please N… Please! Stop! Oh, I'm so tired…" She was begging him not to run anymore, panting.

"I still have energy enough to go further, but… I'll do as you see fit!" He sat beside her, on the grass.

"I won't play with you anymore! It's not fair!"

"That's right… Next time I'll let you win!" He gave her a cute smile, and she turned her head away, so that he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks.

"I n-need no mercy, right? I'm just recovering to go to the Abundant Shrine!" She stood up and smiled back at him. "I really would have lost the time if you hadn't come to wake me up… Thank you, N! You're so good to me…" Touko turned away and walked slowly, clenching her hands into fists at her sides, as if she had said something she couldn't. 'Touko, you're too stupid! How come you hit on him like that…He's still an innocent child… that manly…hot body…' She was having those kinds of thoughts again. "OH ARCEUS! I CAN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD!" She shook her head.

"Touko! We're gonna find the other two pokemon and we'll do it!" N suddenly grasped her arms, his hands gently tightening her skin. "Look at me! Where's your confidence?" He dove into her oceanic blue eyes. She melted at the sight of his sparkling emerald eyes cheering her up. Their faces were really close and Touko had to fight back her hormones urging her to kiss him. She looked down at the narrow space remaining between them and sighed.

"It's not that… I'm not so worried about the next battle…" The girl said. N lifted her chin up.

"Don't you ever hide your beautiful face, especially… from me!" The young man kept staring at her, not moving an inch. She smiled shyly and tears started to blur her vision.

'What… He just said I'm… beautiful?' She couldn't believe it. 'Am I dreaming?'

"Touko, don't cry… It hurts me so…" His fingers played along her cheek. This was the sign she needed to gain confidence. That was the perfect moment for their first kiss to happen. The first of their lives. Touko gained a slight height when she lifted her heels off the ground, being supported by the ball of her feet and toes.

She strove to reach closer to his lips and the prize she won was the feeling of his warm breath against her cold skin, this contrast, like black and white, was giving her an incredible sensation, something new and amazing.

That perfect fairy tale scenery she built in her mind crashed down right over her head when someone messed up with her plans.

"OH! THERE YOU ARE!"

Touko thought something like 'NO, I'M NOT!' The girl slowly pushed the young King off her.

"I'm so sorry! Did I interrupt something?" Skyla asked, getting down from her unfezant.

The inner Touko lost grip 'HELL YES!' But the words that escaped past her lips were way different from that. "No… I was just… blowing the dust from one of his eyes!" The girl wanted to facepalm after this. 'Now that was the lamest excuse I've ever come up with!'

"But Touko, I have nothing in my ey…" Before N could finish his sentence, the girl jabbed at him with her elbow.

"Leave it to me!" She muttered to him. He nodded in response, dabbing his sore arm.

"I know, I know…" The gym leader scratched her chin in disbelief. "Well, do you remember that I told you to go without me and I would meet up with you later?"

"Yes. Is something wrong?" The girl asked, happy about the subject change.

"Hu-hum! It was settled that we were going together to the Abundant Shrine but… I had to wake up at four o'clock a.m. today!"

"Wow! Why? We had decided to go at about seven a.m…"

"I needed to take care of Elesa. She was a human wreck this early morning. The hair was a mess, the dress was dirty and its fabric all wrinkled, no shoes… She ran all the way from Castelia to Mistralton. There was a party last night, and she took this opportunity to… Tell Burgh her feelings… She told me that he's the most special man in this world, and that he's completely different from the others and bla bla bla. Every week she is with someone new, but it never lasts. Only Burgh is the perfect man for her, she loves him."

"So romantic!" Touko smiled softly, she seemed to be ignoring the law of gravity when she started to dance around them. She floated through the air in charming long leaps. While spinning, she kept the perfect balance without becoming dizzy. She stood with heels together and toes turned out, positioning her arms in front of her as if she was holding a barrel, slowly sliding her feet apart with toes pointing outwards, stretching her arms to the sides. She placed one foot in front of the other causing one heel to rest against the arch of the back foot, toes still turned out as she lifted one arm above her head, stretching the other out to the side. The front foot slid a bit from the back foot, instead of touching it like before. Now her front heel rested against the toe of the back foot, both arms gracefully being raised through the air.

N and Skyla couldn't believe their eyes as they acknowledged that the dance was too stunning for them to see it without becoming infatuated and dazzled by all that beauty she was showing them for free.

"Wow! Touko this was… AMAZING!" The gym leader acclaimed with cheers as they both applauded wildly at the end of her fascinating performance.

"Oh, thank you! I did ballet when I was younger… Mom just loves it, she's so proud of me!" Touko bowed to them, one foot still placed in front of the other. The girl felt like she would die when she noticed the young man's expression. His loving eyes couldn't fix on anything else but her, it seemed he was falling for her even deeper now. Anyone could read it in his eyes. She bit her lower lip and changed the subject, before she could act stupid with that on her mind.

"Er… I'm still curious about Elesa and Burgh! Did she tell him?" Touko clapped her hands twice, jumping in excitement.

"Yeah, hum… She says that he's everything she wants but he lacks the most important thing they need."

"Oh Arceus! Tell me!" The young girl jounced in eagerness.

"It's simple. He doesn't love her." N said. The two female trainers instantly turned to the Plasma King. The book he read was really magic.

"That's it, you're right. But his reasons are a bit… different… Touko, you've been teaching him a lot about this love-thing, haven't you?" The gym leader asked, nudging the girl. "Oh! Is it true that you two slept in the same bed yesterday? I thought you would wait a little bit more for this but… I won't blame you, he's so tempting! Everybody's talking about it!"

"Wait, what? We didn't… and… how… What do you mean with 'everybody's talking'?" Touko went pale, even though her usual skin color was already as white as snow.

"I healed my pokemon at the Pokemon Center and they were talking about…"

"Oh, I got it now! Looks like the Pokemon Center is no more! Now it's called the Gossip Center where people go and tittle-tattle about the others' lives! Even when it's an intentional untruth!" Touko narrowed her eyes, enraged to know that now her name is at the tip of people's tongue, deliberately slipping between their lips along with other malicious words.

"I'm sorry, Touko. I'll fix it all for you then, right?" Skyla felt bad about believing the rumors. She apologized and walked back to her waiting unfezant. "I'm on my way now! I'll wait for you there, don't be long!" She gently tapped the bird's neck, giving it the permission to go. "Did you know? These cute beings will never let themselves feel close to anyone other than their trainers. I know it thanks to Professor Juniper's studies. They're totally loyal! Let's go, dear!" The light and dark gray bird growled, spreading its medium-sized wings outwards while it ran along the green field, flapping and leaping from the ground to gain impulse.

"Skyla has a female unfezant. The most noticeable difference between the genders is that the males have large wattles while the females only have a small crest. Also, the females are said to surpass the males in flying ability. We witnessed this now!" Unlike social life and humans, talking about pokemon is N's specialty. He knows almost everything about them and always seems delighted when he's sharing his knowledge with the others.

"Smart boy! I'm so proud of you, N!" Touko yelled, nothing but a smile upon her face.

"A-are you serious?" The young man widened his eyes. They held a particular glow that she had never seen in his emerald orbs before, but this unknown brightness that lit his eyes told her almost everything about the locked secrets buried so deep inside of his soul.

The girl saw a weeping kid lost inside a huge room. He had so many toys, she couldn't enumerate them. This wasn't enough for him, he wanted no material stuff. Every day he was given a brand new toy. But this wasn't what he wanted and one day he told his father, pulling weakly the rim of his exquisite robe in an attempt to catch his attention, once he'd never even looked at his own child for more than ten seconds. A small smile lit his baby face when the tall man turned around. This encouraged him to ask for a hug. He wanted to feel the human warmth around him, but the only thing he felt was some annoying heat stinging his cheeks bitterly and his fragile body was sent backwards with the aggressive slap. The nasty words the man was shouting against him weren't stinging more than his delicate cheek. He'd never had someone to compliment him, praise his good deeds and virtues. He grew up without knowing how good it was to hear this. But now, all this long time was worth it.

"I've never been this serious before." She lightly stroked his cheek, where the man had hit him so many times before. "You're the most special person I've ever met… I'll never let you down, I promise!" She held back her tears and quickly pulled him, hugging his waist. That was the kind of hug he always wanted, even if it was just for a second or two it seemed to last forever.

"You stole my words, Touko. I was going to tell you that… I'll change the words not to get repetitive…" He hummed and thought a little bit. "You mean so much to me. I'm sure no one will ever take your place! You're the human friend I always wanted to have!" He played with her ponytail as he hugged her back. She frowned against his chest.

'Friend…' She sighed there and he giggled. "What's that now, Sr. Harmonia?" She looked up at him.

"You're tickling me!" He dabbed his chest where she was touching him with her nose.

"So… I didn't mean to… But now you'll see!" She lifted her hands up to show him her fingers, wanting to touch him lightly so as to yank a laughter from him.

"You have to catch me first!" N chuckled, running away from her. "You know that I always win, Touko! Give up!"

"I never give up! Beware, I'm right behind you" Touko gathered all the energy she needed to keep up with him. 'Oh my, he is really good at this.'

As soon as she asked him to stop again he pulled his Poke Ball from his belt and sent his Reshiram out. The young man helped her to climb its back and sat behind the girl right after.

'_Someone's getting fatter.' _Reshiram stated, lowering its back. N looked down at Touko and saw her exposed thick thighs. His eyes wandered a little bit more around the feminine curves of her body, and he found that something about her was enticing him, making him unable to stop exploring her entire physical structure with his eyes. He felt so good and strange. Countless questions started to multiply on his mind, but he managed to concentrate on answering his white dragon.

"It must be her." N said, his eyes on her thighs.

"Me? What?" Touko made an effort to meet his gaze, turning and lifting her head up.

"Reshiram said that…" The young King felt its tail firmly hit his back, but not aggressively, as if to warn him about something.

'_You should know that there are certain kinds of things that you just can't say to a girl.' _The legendary avoided a disaster. _'You can't tell her she's getting fatter! Girls hate hearing this. And don't repeat what I'm saying!'_

"Right, I'm sorry! I won't tell her!"

"Won't tell me what?" The girl was getting upset. Knowing that you're the main subject inserted in a conversation where you can't hear the two participating parts is really annoying.

"Hum… Nothing!" He moved his eyes up in an adorable manner.

"Fine, N. I'm not talking to you until you decide to tell me!" She stubbornly crossed her arms. The naive young man wouldn't stand this. If it was anyone else he would be used to, but not her.

"No, no, no, please! I'm telling you but don't do this to me…" N whined. Touko felt a sour regret rising in the pit of her stomach.

"Shh… It's ok! I was just kidding!" She instantly leaned her back against his stomach, placing herself between his arms and binding them around her. Her head rested next to his shoulder as she patted his dainty face.

'_You can choose whether to tell her or not. But I'm assuring you, tell her and she'll never talk to you again! It's all up to you.' _N sucked in his breath at this, freezing. He didn't reply once he knew that this would make Touko even more annoyed.

"I was kidding about not talking to you, but I was serious when I said to tell me what were you talking about, Harmonia!" She refused to yield.

'_You don't have to tell her what exactly we were talking about. Think about something else to say.'_

"No. This would be a lie, and I despise lies!" He narrowed his eyes. "I would withstand anything just to keep my conscience clear!" His hands turned into fists, clutching the fabric of his slacks. Touko shivered when his manly voice met her ears with a warm breath sweeping down her neck.

'_That's why I accepted you, master! You have a real pure heart.'_

N smiled and then he counted 1, 2 and then 3.

"Reshiram said that someone here is getting fatter. Then I took some time to… l-look at you… I saw your thighs, so bulky and also so delicate… Then I told him it must have been you, just because of it…" He immediately braced himself to endure any kind of assault she could try against him. He felt her fingers softly brushing his skin, indicating that she wouldn't harm him after that. He fluttered his eyes open unhurriedly, revealing his baffled expression.

"Do you really think… my thighs are…" Her cheeks tinted a light pink and she softly pressed the tip of her forefinger against the other. N nodded carefully.

"That's what I think. Is that why you like wearing shorts?" Her cheeks quickly got redder now.

"Well no… I just happen to like using them, I feel comfortable."

"Now you've got an additional reason!" Their gazes locked and time seemed to stop. Even Touko's sore neck was not able to bring her back from the pleasant green fields she was going into, his eyes.

The white dragon roared, catching their attentions. Touko could only hear the legendary's usual cry but N heard this _'Shall we go now, my lord?'_

"We should have gone already." The green haired man answered his legendary. "Next stop, the Abundant Shrine, Reshiram!" He gave his command, arms around the girl to keep her safe. As Reshiram took off from the ground, N rested his head on the top of Touko's head. His thoughts were deep because the white dragon told him not to tell the girl or else she would be mad at him, but she did just the opposite. He sighed. _'I'll never understand humans…' _He twitched one side of his lips up. _'That makes me even more interested in knowing her better.'_

The white dragon disappeared into the cotton clouds.

…...

Touya dragged his heels on his way down the stairs with a weary pace. He went to the kitchen, hoping to find his mother there.

"Mooom?" The boy looked like a baby whining for a maternal embrace. He frowned, no sight of her anywhere. He walked back to the living room and noticed that the table was set as he slowly came closer to it. He took a glimpse of a letter laid underneath his favorite cup, the boar-like fire-type pokemon emboar stamped on it. Touya narrowed his chocolate brown eyes and he meticulously pulled the letter from under the fragile material. He opened the envelope and took the flat folded paper from it, spreading it out to reveal its content. His eyes widened completely in surprise as he clenched the paper in his hands ready to tear it up and throw its pieces away when he saw who signed the letter – _Cheren Komor_. He hissed in disbelief, but loosened his grip and pulled the chair to have a seat. The boy inhaled deeply, massaging his shoulder blades and relaxed. He feared the worst written there.

"Let's see… what do you have for me, Cheren…" He whispered, adjusting his position on the chair to read the letter. And so he began.

_Touya,_

_I couldn't get to sleep last night. I felt like I had done something wrong, and that's why I barely slept, seeing the moon peering from behind the dark clouds during the whole night till the peep of dawn. I rushed to your house this early morning, had no breakfast. I met your mother and she told me you were still asleep, and she was going to Striaton city to shop. She asked me if I would like to stay and wait, but I had an appointment with Alder at the Victory Road so I couldn't be late, really. I also told her that I had an urgency to talk to you, I needed to. Seeing my frustration, she gave me this piece of paper and told me to write this, so that you could read it later. It was a brilliant idea. She said that she would put it inside a wrapping and underneath your favorite cup, knowing that you would have breakfast and see it for sure. What I have to say is that… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about yesterday. I was rough and you didn't deserve such a thing since you were only trying to help me. Just believe me when I say that we'd better leave things the way they are now. I hope you're not mad at me. I do appreciate our friendship a lot, though I don't seem to show it._

_Sincere wishes from,_

_Cheren Komor._

Touya's mouth hung open when he finished reading his friend's last name. He blinked his eyes a couple times before clumsily getting up to his feet, leaning a bit over the table and propping himself up on his arms. He rapidly shook his head as if to disperse some unpleasant thought he was having there. Like a rocket, he went back to his room and took everything he would need for his day. The boy opened his drawer and pulled the X-transcreiver, quickly turning it on. He looked for the right name at the contact's list and found it. His trembling finger pressed the button to make the call. He sat down slowly on the cold floor and spread his legs a bit as he bent forward, staring at the device, both hands holding it tightly. No answer.

"Come on!" He tried again, but it was useless. He gave up, dropping the device and lying on the floor, stretching arms and legs. Before he could think about anything the X-transcreiver rang. He suddenly crawled back to where he had left it. With a _'click'_ the screen revealed his girlfriend's image. He sighed. He thought it was Cheren returning his missed calls.

"Touya, what are you doing? We have to meet Touko!" Even though he couldn't see any lower than her shoulders, he knew she was nervously tapping her feet against the surface of her room, where she stood. He could hear it.

"I'm sorry, honey. I…" Touya couldn't tell her, not now. "… overslept."

"Yes. I can see. Those dark circles are forming now when you're having a good rest too? If you had slept this much you wouldn't have those under your eyes!" Bianca got him cornered, he turned his head to the side and bit his thumb.

"Bianca, I need you to understand…"

"Touya…" She shifted in her place, gasping for air while she tried to calm herself down. "Were you thinking about HER? The whole night?"

"NO, NO… Bianca! Enough with this childish jealousy! I didn't sleep, I was thinking about a man, okay, no women there! So stop this nonsense right now!" His ears thanked the silence when the blonde girl's shrill squeals suddenly ceased. Touya's uneasy breath returned to normal after a while, but Bianca was still staring at him, dumbstruck. Tears were almost streaming down. "What's now, Bianca?" His breath was getting unsteady again.

"Y-you… w-were thinking about a man… So… It means you are…"

"Tired, confused, depressed, distressed, worn out and upset. I could never imagine that you would think such a thing about me!" He laughed, leaving Bianca even more confused. "I'll tell you what's happening, my love. I promise."

"Really?"

"Really. Everything." He chuckled. "Can you see? I do anything for you!"

"Hm… I don't know about thaaaat…" Bianca teased, giggling.

"Ah, Fine. That kind of abstinence is a lot for me to handle, and I'm pretty sure you know it better than I do!" He raised a single brow, grinning. He hit her weak spot, leaving her speechless, opening and closing her mouth with no sight of words to come out. Now it was his turn to get her cornered. She looked down, embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, darling… I'm doing this to protect you! Dad would kill you, I'm serious!" She feared the day that her father would eventually find it out.

"I thought I was the one to protect you, but... No problem. I'm getting used to this, finding alternative ways…"

"Shh…We'll talk about it later, my parents may hear this!"

"I'm already dead if they do! Just don't feel like I'm pressuring you. I'll wait, even if it takes forever. No, I won't." They laughed together for a good while.

"Ow, Touya! That's why I love you… You're always making me laugh!" She looked at him with loving eyes. "Don't worry, dear! We're going to do it, this day is coming soon!" She whispered so that only Touya could hear her.

"I'll be waiting. I'm going there to get you now, right?"

"Right!" After that, the screen went black. The boy remained quiet for some time, looking away, X-transcreiver slipping from his hands, his slack muscles making no effort to hold it when he was concentrating on something else. The device fell from his weak grasp and hit the floor, its dull sound awaking him to reality. He looked at the curtain that was keeping sunlight from beaming through the window. He felt gloomy in there. Touya stood up and withdrew the curtain to open the window. He felt alive as he inhaled the fresh air of the morning.

"Time to go!" The boy felt he had energy to overcome anything, any obstacle. Nothing would stop him now. Nothing but his noisy stomach.

…...

The Abundant Shrine is connected to route 14 at its southern path. It's inaccessible by land, but surfing would solve this problem. The surrounding area is a pile of earth, sand, bodies of water and rocks that form mounds, marking a site, where is located the concealable Shrine.

It's quite difficult to enter this place, but the young couple had no problem with this. Reshiram flew over its barriers, looking for a suitable spot to land.

"There's a vast field ahead, Reshiram. Just keep going and you'll see it." N explained.

"Have you ever been here?" Touko asked.

"No. But I've read a lot about this place."

"You're too much, N!"

"Well… Thank you!" He said shyly.

They were losing altitude and the white dragon carefully prepared to land safely. _'Here we are. The Abundant Shrine!' _N went down the dragon's back and, as his feet touched the soft grassy ground beneath them, he stretched his arms out to help Touko getting down from the legendary. The white dragon lowered its back to make it easier for them and N, with no malicious intent, held her by the waist. She shivered as his fingers dug into her skin and it didn't matter that her tank top was there to avoid the real skin against skin contact. Every little thing he does goes far beyond the utmost degree there is for her.

"T-thank you, N…"

"You're welcome."

"Look, hum… would you… release my waist now, please?" No way had she wanted it, but she needed to show him she's not that easy.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" He promptly apologized, removing his hands.

"It's ok!" She said weakly. It wasn't true.

"Touko, look! The grand staircase is right ahead! If my calculations are correct, the Shrine must be at its top. Let's go!" He snatched at her arm and pulled her along with him, running upstairs.

"N, I'm going to trip over one of these steps if we keep going like that!" She said, panting already.

"It will take forever if we don't hurry!"

"I'm serious, I'm getting tired already! I can't keep up with you!" The young King stopped immediately. They ran for a while but weren't even halfway. He took a look at the staircase.

"If we divide it in two equal parts, I can't even say that we've reached the fifty percent yet. We would need to divide it in four equal parts, and so we are at its twenty-five percent part. And if we took at about four minutes to make it, we'll do the entire process in sixteen minutes. Plus the time we are spending when we're standing here now it's…"

"No, no, no, no! I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

"But Touko, sixteen minutes is too much time! So we need to keep going the way we were before in order to get there faster, do you follow my logic?"

"Oh my! You talk too fast! You need to breathe, N! I'll teach you. Inhale… exhale…" She gestured for him to imitate her as her chest slightly increased in size, filled with air that she slowly released right after. He did it for a short while but he got bored and while she was concentrating on her breathing class, the tea green haired man quickly took her in his arms, bridal style, and carried the girl upstairs.

"N!"

"We won't get there in sixteen minutes. The extra weight I'm carrying is providing a certain resistance to climb the stairs."

"Am I fat?"

"No way."

"But you told Reshiram…" She pouted.

"I just think you… you are beautiful just the way you are." N is too sincere and innocent to hide his convictions. Like a child, he always tells the truth. Touko's face became rosy. She tried to hide it snuggling her face into his chest and also pulling his shirt to cover it.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nothing. Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet."

"Not yet."

"Are we there yet?"

"I'll tell you as soon as we get there." N gently said and the girl nodded.

"Are we there yet?"

"No. Come on Touko, what's that for?"

"I once saw it in a movie. It was so funny! I laughed a lot."

"I don't think it's funny to annoy someone like this."

"We'll watch this movie together and you will change your mind. I did the download from the internet and…" Touko looked away, fading her excited tone. "A-are you willing to come home with me when we finish this off?" N stopped and looked down at the fragile figure he held within his arms.

"Absolutely." He smiled at her. "Ask me now."

"What?"

"What you saw in the movie."

"Ahh! Are we there yet?"

"Yes." N gently adjusted her to regain her upright position again.

"Can you see it now? It didn't take sixteen minutes. I was using my X-transcreiver to count the minutes. Look!" She showed it to him. "Ten minutes and three seconds! You were wrong!" The brunette grinned in satisfaction but the young King chuckled and shook his head.

"First off, you need to subtract four from sixteen, considering that when we started to count the minutes we had already walked twenty-five percent of the whole. This percentage is equivalent to four minutes, just an average I made, leaving twelve minutes. So, we also have to remove more two minutes knowing that we didn't move for some short period of time, leaving the ten minutes you marked. I took a glance on your X-transcreiver, in which I could see the time and then, calculate the difference between the moment we had stopped and the moment we had started to move on again, comprising the fact that I was carrying you so I had to go a bit slower than before. Let's see, Touko. Ten plus two plus four, it equals…" N waited patiently for her answer.

"Sixteen." Touko replied dryly.

"That's it. If you still doubt it, I can find another way to…"

"No. I don't want to talk about minutes for the rest of the year!"

"Forty-five days to reach the end of this year. It means you won't talk about it for sixty-four-thousand and eight hundred minutes."

"N! You don't have to prove to me that you're a genius!" The brunette sighed and walked over to the edge of the mound.

"I'm sorry, Touko. I just… like math a lot. I'll stop, I promise." He went right after her. "What a view!"

"It's a peaceful place. Wow! Look at all those grasslands areas!" She pointed to the land covered with dense vegetal down there.

"Yes. That's why it's also known as the Fertility Shrine. It's a common sense that the fertility god, Landorus, raises crops here to grow healthy."

"Nice!" Touko was delight, smiling as she breathed the vivid fresh air of the area. She forgot for a brief while the real reason she was there, shrugging in disgruntlement when she remembered. "Oww… It was so good to be true! Now, I… Oh, by the way…" She looked around. "It's so calm here… Skyla told me that something weird was going on, but… I see nothing wrong!"

"Touko… I need to test my hypothesis!"

"And does your extraordinary hypothesis have numbers? Equations and those kinds of things? If it does don't you even bother to tell me!" Touko walked over to the house of Landorus' worship. The young King drew his brows together as if he was concentrating on what he should tell her but he didn't have space to explain his observations.

"TOUKO AND N!" Skyla was stumbling in exhaustion, reaching the top of the highest mound. Touko could partly see the leader as she was still emerging from the stairs.

"Skyla! Are you ok?" The young girl came closer to her.

"I am… Though… I… think I'll… die… if I… move… another… inch…" She bent her body forward, resting her hands next to her knees as if to support her weight, breathing heavily. N popped out from behind Touko and couldn't help keeping his mouth shut.

"How many minutes did you…" The young man retreated when he saw his partner's threatening expression.

"Hmm…" He came up with another question. "Why don't we go and look around to see if we can find anything out?"

"Clay told me yesterday that his staff had noticed some strange vibrations coming from this place. They just said that it measured 6.2 on Ritcher Scale, causing damage to buildings, some houses were moved on foundation... It was really serious! Thank goodness that the area around this place is underlain by firm ground and it didn't spread out dangerously!" Skyla explained.

"Oh, Arceus! Is everybody alright? My heart was shattered now with this…" Touko was almost crying, clasping her hands together.

"Yes, no deaths. But they're homeless… Didn't you see it on the news yesterday?"

"No… We didn't have time to watch the TV." The young girl sighed in relief, but was still concerned about the situation of the homeless people.

"I'm glad no one died! Looks like this energy was being released from the earth's lithosphere… Were they something like low-frequency sound waves?" N asked.

"I'm sorry, N... I really don't know…" Skyla answered sadly.

"No, it's alright. I just needed to know a little bit more about the information they gave you."

"Well, hmm… I'll try to remember…. Hmm… Clay told me something like no geologic faults underneath this place and… hmm…" The gym leader tapped her forefinger on her lips, looking up. "And… Oh! That's it. He said that according to their data, this place was the earthquake's epicenter!"

"That's all I needed to know. Thank you, Skyla!" N walked away, looking down at the ground and around the place. He was silent and humming for a while, but then he came back to where Touko and Skyla were.

"What's on your mind, N?" Touko clutched N's shirt and started to jump. He frowned in concernment, speaking as fast as he always does.

"There are no volcanic activities here, so… It's just not normal! Those happen frequently in areas of plate boundaries, just like earthquakes. They usually occur at fractures in earth's crust, releasing built-up energy along the geologic faults or by the movement of magma. This place doesn't have what it takes to be the epicenter…That's why I'm thinking that… It must be some kind of manifestation! Landorus could have done this, the vibrations. And what about the exactly time it happened, did they tell you?"

"It was at about midday." The gym leader said, confused.

"That's it! Now I formulated a theory… But I still have to confirm my hypothesis!" He snapped his fingers together.

"Speak up!" Touko was thirsty for information and just because she wanted it so bad her X-transcreiver rang, making her groan. She lifted her arm and pressed the button fiercely.

"What do you want, Cheren?" Her face darkened at him.

"_It's nice to see you too, Touko!"_ He ironically returned her gentle greeting.

"I'm busy at the moment, so I'll talk to you later, right?"

"_Where are you? You didn't contact me to keep me aware of things!"_

"I'm fine, ok?"

"_You're at the Abundant Shrine, aren't you?"_

"How did you know?"

"_Touya told me. He's on his way with Bianca. That boy called me twice this morning but I couldn't answer him since I was busy too. But I'm now just sitting idly here. Why didn't you tell me?"_

"I…" She was interrupted as the ground shook lightly, causing her to go down, kneeling and then crouching lower, so that she was sitting on her heels. Cheren could swear he heard a familiar voice – N's voice. His stomach felt sick and he wanted to puke, but he let it go when he noticed that Touko could be in danger.

"_What was that?"_

"E-earthquake a-again?"

"_What?"_

"Cheren, I'm turning it off! See you!" Her shaky voice indicated how nervous she was. The sounds ceased completely when the screen went black.

….

"TOUKO, TOUKO? DAMN IT!" Cheren tried in vain to communicate, sighing and dropping his arms down, like he was carrying something as heavy as the I-beam girder that Gurdurr has always been seen with.

"What's the matter, son?" It's not like Alder wanted Cheren to be his child, but they are so close that he just feels like addressing for him like that, in a familiar way.

"This girl really drives you crazy in all the ways, Cheren!" Marshall sauntered, stepping over some scattered and smashed rocks with a wild smirk in face.

"No jokes now, Marshall. You'd better help your friends. You're dismissed." Alder gave him a paternal look and the boy stared at the champion for some time, smiling at the tall man.

"Thank you so very much, Alder! I owe you one!" He eagerly slid down the rock he was sitting on and got his stuff.

"Just give your best, you know you have potential. Now, good luck!"

"Understood. Bye then!" Cheren turned around and strode towards the Victory Road's entrance, but he would exit it. Running, he felt his heart rate increase as if it was leaping into his throat, pumping till it goes out of his mouth. He didn't know if it had to do with his tiredness or the mixed feelings twisting inside of his head, making him all nervous.

'I have… I'll show them what I'm made of!' He left behind deep footprints as heavy emotions were being incorporated into his physical weight.

**I would like to say that the reviews are loooooved! I'm doing my best for you, guys! ****Thank you very, very much!**

**I'll be right back!**


	8. Chapter 7

**I do not own pokemon.**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 7<strong>

Light was filtering down from the small window above, next to the ceiling. It doesn't matter whether it was morning or not, the murky place doesn't seem to reflect the minor bright light through its depths, but it does absorb it, like a black surface. A place made for the bad guys, to put them in a somber mood after having the eternity to think about their miserable lives there.

"You, scummy sage! You've got a visit." The cop unfastened the lock to unfasten the latch on the gate of the cell and opened it. Ghetsis was lying on the cold steel bench, his head turned to the wall. He just seemed to murmur something to himself and didn't turn to face the policeman.

"Who the hell is here to visit Ghetsis? Why isn't there someone to visit ME instead?" Zinzolin yelled, seizing firmly the bars of the cell with his hands.

"You'd better keep your composure or I'll be forced to calm you down myself!" The cop gave him a threatening look. The sage cringed in fear, springing back. "Fine. Now, you! Come with me!" The man finally gave them a sign he was alive, sighing sharply. He slowly moved and sat on the bench, rubbing his eyes as if he was sleeping. Not speaking a single word, he stood up and walked over to the policeman, who led him to the visitor's room, and as soon as they were gone, the sages started to wonder who it might be.

They stopped in front of a white door and the cop opened it, gesturing for him to enter. Ghetsis walked idly through the room, he didn't want to see anyone. Although there weren't so many people there, however he couldn't manage to find the person that was waiting for him. That's when he saw someone waving. This mysterious person wore a long cloak to prevent recognition. The sage frowned but sat down on the chair, across the person. A table was placed between them.

"Who ar…" His mouth hung open when the person revealed her features.

"It's me, Ghetsis. How have you been?" Concordia smiled, lips slightly tugging at the sides of her mouth.

"So, Goddess of peace… Did you come here to make fun of me?"

"Gosh…" The woman hissed. "You're in no conditions to be arrogant and aggressive!" She lowered her voice and added "I should have listened to Anthea…" The Goddess crossed her arms.

"That's right, Concordia! I'm the arrogant. So you think you can come here and ask me with that cynical face of yours if I'm fine, perfectly knowing that I'm confined inside that crap that they call a cell? And you don't even want me to complain? Are you kidding me?" The man kept his voice low.

"Well, you deserve that. I tried to be nice towards you, and what do I get in return?"

"You're the kind of person that does something good, waiting for something even better in return. I've known you for so many years, Goddess!"

"Unfortunately. Have you ever heard of you get what you give? That's why you're paying your infinite sins, Ghetsis! I don't know if you'll ever be able to pay them all!" Her low throaty laugh disturbed the man even more.

"You're defying me just because I'm defenseless!"

"N WAS THE ONLY ONE DEFENSELESS AND STILL IS! And you hurt that poor child far beyond limits, Ghetsis! You're cruel!" The Goddess started to sob silently. He gave her no response after that, looking down as he heard his son's name, the single famous letter. Lately, Ghetsis has been silent about his son. Anything about the letter N will drive him into a deep trance and that'll be really hard to snap him out of it. Concordia pulled a tissue from her purse and wiped her tears, placing it back inside nervously. She shook her head and rose from her seat. Right before her height could be fully erected, the man grabbed her hand.

"Where are you going?"

"Time's almost out."

"We have fifteen minutes and we've been here for only five or six at the most…." The woman inhaled deeply and sat down again.

"I despise you, Ghetsis! I just can't stand looking at you anymore!" She said it so directly that it came to be funny.

"Where's N?" He asked, ignoring her disgusted expression and sincerity.

"What?"

"W-h-e-r-e-'s- N? Do I really have to spell it out for you?"

"Ahh… Now you do care about him!"

"The sages told me he's back…"

"Hm-hum. Yes, he is. But I'm so sad I couldn't see him yet…"

"He didn't come back to the castle?"

"No. I'm living there with Anthea, the Shadow Triad and some remaining grunts. Unfortunately, I don't know where he is, but I saw on TV that he's been wandering around with that girl…"

"Don't hide it from me, Concordia! Don't hide anything!"

"I'm serious, I haven't seen him since that faithful day! Oh, how I wished I could be lying about that!"

"So… Is that all?"

"What? Ah! You have a lot of things to do for sure, don't you? I'm sorry I made you waste your precious time!" Concordia said boldly, before quickly standing up and walking away from him.

"I'd rather be sleeping!" Ghetsis crossed his arms upon the table, moving one single leg up and down, impatiently. Everyone around him knew who he was, and they kept staring at him, wondering why he was acting so strange. He truly had something on his mind, but no one would ever find out what it really is until he decides to reveal it. Now, he'll only remain silent. Silent and strange.

….

"So, the first evidence of the klinks dates to around one hundred years ago, in Chargestone Cave, but I still can't… I'm just not satisfied when you say that they suddenly appeared in the cave… It feels like you don't want to study a little bit more to complete this research!" Cedric Juniper was sprawling on the couch, holding a cup of coffee and watching the TV. The woman kept looking at the computer's screen, nimble fingers playing to and fro on the keyboard. She didn't seem to pay attention on her father.

"I'm talking to you, Aurea! I will never understand why you don't make an effort to explain the klinks' origin! It's a shame! You're specialized in the origin of Pokemon!"

"I'm rather busy at the moment, father! I'm working on my serious research, so please don't disturb me!" She explained, not even turning her head to look at him.

"Ok. I'm sorry." He apologized, taking a sip from his cup. Shortly after the woman laughed out really loud causing the older man to leap as he got startled and jerking his hand, spilling the coffee on the floor.

"Serious research, my beloved daughter?" He narrowed his eyes and frowned with an ironical smile spreading across his face.

"Err…" The female Professor felt prominent beads of sweat on her forehead. "It's a bit funny, though!" She moved her high-back-leather-executive ergonomic computer chair forward while sitting on it, in an attempt to hide the screen from her father, but the man stretched his neck to the side and glanced at the computer.

"Is Rowan that funny, dear? I didn't know it!" Cedric asked with a smirk.

"You're being a meddlesome old guy, dad!" The woman couldn't help smiling even though she was blushing bright red in embarrassment.

"No problem. You do have my permission to have a boyfriend. It's about time for you to even get married! But I won't let you get so reckless over your professional life like that!" The man got up and made his way to the kitchen, leaving his daughter speechless. Then, he came back with a piece of cloth in his hand and tossed it on the floor to clean the spilled coffee. He was somehow ignoring the woman.

"Look, Professor Cedric Juniper! You do not have the right to…" She wouldn't have to bother finishing her sentence because her father was going to forget everything right after. The TV news caught the attention of the older Professor causing him to shush his daughter.

"_UNOVA is suffering again with the mysterious earthquakes that are being originated at the Abundant Shrine, next to route 14. According to the Geology Department from the University of UNOVA, this morning, the vibrations were weaker than those that happened yesterday, reaching only 2,6 on Ritcher Scale. It caused no serious damage, but it's panicking the population. The government is sending more help to aid the victims and a group of scientists that work at the Twist Mountain along with the gym leader Clay are going to study the weird phenomenon at the very area. We'll be right back with some more information about the earthquakes. Now, we're in Opelucid City to show you…" _Aurea turned off the TV, both mouths agape. She stood behind the couch and her father sat down abruptly in shock.

"What does that mean? That's not a place for earthquakes to happen…" The woman paced back and forth, looking down with a concerned gaze and thinking with her hand holding her chin.

"You'd better go and join the scientists in order to solve this problem!"

"I'm busy now, dad! I have only three months left to finish my research about the Kami Trio…"

"You mean, Tornadus, Landorus and Thundurus."

"Exactly. I'm presenting it at the Council meeting next year! Well, I do hope so…"

"How do you plan to study this? Those beings are so hard to be even seen!"

"I know, that's why I asked Touko to help me! She's so skilled that I'm really counting on her!"

"You do have a point. She managed to save UNOVA, I have no doubt that she can accomplish this." The man sighed. "But I won't stay here knowing that UNOVA needs all the help necessary to get over it. I'm heading to Twist Mountain! Hopefully, I'll meet Clay there. He probably knows a lot about the situation."

"Ok, father. I'll stay here for now. Don't hesitate to contact me if anything comes up!"

Cedric nodded and impulsively exited the lab. The woman saw her father going away through the window, leaning her forehead against the glass and frowning. But then, her face lit. 'Maybe I should ask Rowan to help me…'

….

"What did you say?"

"Touko... That's the only reason I found suitable for this weird phenomenon!"

"But N… You're practically saying that I'm the guilty!"

"It's not that! No one could ever guess what would happen if Thundurus was caught."

"Yeah, really… If I knew it I wouldn't have caught it…" Touko sighed, feeling herself a monster. "Oh, my… People are homeless and that's all my fault! They could even have…" Her breath was getting unstable and she couldn't restrain her falling tears. The girl knelt to the ground, hands were covering her eyes. N instantly crouched and pulled her closer to him. She continued to cry into his arms, resting her head on his chest.

"Shhh…" His soothing whispers were lulling Touko almost to sleep. After some time, her breath was calming down as her convulsive cry turned into quiet gasps and sobs. The young man brushed her hair with his long fingers, giving her goosebumps. "I'm sorry, Touko… I should have explained it better…"

"And you did, N. Landorus is angry because I captured Thundurus. That's why he's causing these earthquakes. It makes sense…" She hardly stood up and smiled weakly at him. "But I'll fix it! For real!" A single warm tear fell down her otherwise cold skin, where the others had dried already, but its course was interrupted when N gently wiped it away with his thumb.

"We'll do it together, Touko!" His words brought more tears to her eyes. "No, Touko! Don't cry!" He said sweetly and hugged her tightly.

"I'm being stirred by emotion today, don't you think?" She chuckled. A small smile spreading between the tears. "I-I don't know what is happening to me…"

"If you were a pokemon I would tell you what it is… But unfortunately I'm not so used to the human feelings…" He scratched the back of his head, cheeks slightly flushed and Touko laughed.

"Don't worry about that!" Her expression slowly became serious again. "Where's Skyla?"

"Ah, she's only wandering around. When your friend called you and the ground shook she told me that she was going to look around for something important, like a clue, whatever."

"Fine, but we ought to stay together! Things are getting dangerous!" Touko widened her eyes and almost leapt into N's arms when she heard someone screaming. She could feel her veins pulsating violently as she got startled. She turned around with her hand on her chest to see Touya running towards her and Bianca right behind him.

"BIANCA! YOU STARTLED ME! I ALMOST PASSED OUT!"

"I'm sorry Touko, but I was begging him to wait for me and he dashed away to the top of the mound, leaving me alone. I needed to stop him, so…" The blonde girl bowed, apologizing. Then, she fell over her feet in tiredness.

"I told you that we needed to run to get here faster!" Touya explained his reason.

"I told her the same!" N's face lit as he heard the brown haired boy while pointing at Touko. "But she didn't want to hear me…"

"Girls… They are so complicated but… We can't live without them!" The younger male trainer shook his head with his hands inside his pockets, wearing the usual mischievous grin he has in face.

"Guess you're right! That's exactly why I came back for!" N said, looking at Touko. He smiled boyishly at the girl.

"Wow! Great love's confession!" Touya poked the blue eyed girl with his elbow and Bianca immediately got up and hugged her.

"WHEN YOU'RE GONNA GET MARRIED? I CAN HARDLY WAIT!" The blonde girl jumped in excitement and the other one remained stiff, as in shock. A hue of pink was coloring across her face.

'Love…' N pondered while Bianca and Touya were annoying Touko with this. He knew that he feels something strong for her but up till now he called it _"a friendship". _He read something about love in Shauntal's book and he tried to connect the theory with reality. It made him doubt if he really wants her just as a friend. 'What if… I'm in love with her?' The young King was starting to understand the human feelings now.

"That's enough! Are you two here to help me? If you're answering YES just shut up and let's get serious, but if it's NO… I'll have to kick you out of here right away!" Touko spat.

"You're right. I just couldn't help to hold it in! So… What are we going to do now?" Toyua finally listened to reason.

"My father told me that the earthquakes are spreading the terror around UNOVA at an alarming rate! They fear the worst tragedy ever!" Bianca shrank back in horror as she imagined a catastrophe taking place.

"I reckon that Landorus is causing this mess. We'll have to fight it and win if we want everything to be safe again!" N stated, looking at his beloved friends inside the Poke Balls attached to his belt.

"Are you serious? Is that all there is to stop it?" The brown haired boy chuckled in surprise. "In this case, I can do this alone! I'm a really tough trainer and Landorus will beg me to catch him without a fight!"

"Oh! I'm sure this will happen!" Touko laughed with one hand on her stomach.

"What's so funny, Miss Plasma Queen? Hey everybody, place your bets on the sure thing, and I'm sure he will be mine!"

"If you do catch him, I'll have to acknowledge that you are the best!"

"I want to see this! You'd better not underestimate me!" The boy smirked and they shook hands to settle the deal.

"By the way, Touko… Did you bring Thundurus with you?" N asked.

"No… I completely forgot!" The girl softly slapped her forehead.

"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM, GIRL? YOU'VE GOT THUNDURUS AT YOUR BECK AND CALL AND YOU DIDN'T PUT IT IN YOUR PARTY?" Toyua yelled, moving quickly his arms up and down. It seemed this was all that the dual-type Ground/Flying legendary pokemon was waiting for as Toyua's words hit the pokemon's weak spot, causing it to growl furiously and punch the ground with its muscular orange arms right in front of them. The powerful being watched in amuse how they fell with the violent vibration, its white mustache twitching up. N, as always, was the only one who could understand the pokemon's real reasons and feelings. He stood up and walked over to that genie-like figure, leaving some space between them, for safety's sake.

"N, DON'T!" Touko yelled.

"I know what I'm doing, Touko. Please, trust me!" He didn't look back at the girl, just lifted his head up to see the master of the Kami Trio properly. "I always thought that you would only show up if Tornadus and Thundurus were in the same Place, at The Abundant Shrine." He asked. Touko, Touya and Bianca were still lying on the ground, all quiet, just observing them.

"_We can feel each other's presence. And when they are here together I always drop by this place for them. I really do live above the skies, but in some special situations I can easily be spotted around here."_

"You're here for Thundurus, aren't you?"

"_Yes. I got nervous when I realized that his presence was getting weak, disturbing the balance of the Kami Trio. I knew that someone must have caught him and I needed to show my displeasure with this." _

N frowned. He didn't know what to think now. Pokemon liberation was still fresh on his mind, and he still didn't change his mind completely about it.

"_Well, even though I had punished Tornadus and Thundurus in the past for wreaking a vast damage across the land I need and want them to be free. I won't let anyone take this precious gift away from us!" _The legendary growled louder than before. _"You'll pay for that!"_

"Wait! And what if we let him go?" N urged to ask, speaking even faster than his usual.

"_Too late! Even if he was to be freed, I'll have to teach you a lesson anyway!" _Landorus slammed its tail against the ground, creating another powerful vibration that shook the battlefield. The green haired man shut his eyes tightly and waited for the hit. He felt powerful claws on his back, lifting him from the ground and taking him out of the dangerous zone. The eagle-like pokemon carefully released the young King as he touched the grass with his feet, and flew back to Touya, placing its claws on his lifted right arm.

"Well done, Braviary!" The brown haired boy patted the bird's white plumes, on the sides of its head.

"Thank you, Touya. I almost could see the tunnel with a light at its end!"

"You're welcome! We're a team after all, aren't we?" Touya smiled at the young King and he nodded, smiling back. Then, the younger male trainer gestured for its bird to go into the battle and it did so. N decided to choose one of his pokemon friends to battle against the master of the Kami Trio.

'Since it's resistant against flying types and unaffected by ground type moves…' N thought wisely to make the right choice. "Let's go, Archeops!" The light materialized into a large, colorful flying being. It kept flapping its wings as it waited for its trainer's command.

"You'll just assist the others till I find the perfect chance to send Vanilluxe out, ok?" Archeops agreed and glided its wings around the field. He turned to the indecisive girls beside him. "What's the matter?"

"I wanted to use Samurott, but… It can't fly! It just won't be easy…" Touko answered.

"And I didn't want to fight, I'm not good at this!" Bianca whimpered.

"Yes, this won't be easy, but if we work together we'll be able to defeat it!" N tried to fill the girls with confidence, so that they would give their best there.

"Fine. Samurott, I choose yo…" She pulled the right Poke Ball from her bag, but another Pokemon came out from there by itself. Emolga used her yellow-colored flaps as a parachute, slowly sliding through the air and grinning sweetly at her owner. Touko lowered her face into her hands and grumbled against them. "NOT AGAIN, EMOLGA!" Her head was red in embarrassment and nervousness.

"SO CUTEEEE!" Bianca tried to squeeze the little squirrel but it ran away quickly. "Awww… I won't hurt you!" She said in disappointment, giving up.

Up there, Braviary and Archeops were attacking Landorus, pecking and scratching him, making the legendary even more furious. Bianca saw them and decided to participate.

"Help us, Musharna!" She called the rounded pig-like pokemon out.

"I need you, Samurott!" Touko sent it out right after, refusing to let emolga take care of the situation.

"Bianca, call Musharna back! Flying and ground types moves are said to damage it!" Touya advised.

"B-but… Musharna is only weak against bug, ghost and dark types…" The blonde girl stammered. Landorus scrutinized the round creature, his yellow eyes stared critically at Musharna's eyelids, indicating that it was asleep, as it is often been seen, and also, the master of the Kami Trio saw the famous Dream Mist coming out of its forehead, confirming that the Pokemon was really sleeping. The legendary took that as an offense – How that fat little thing dares to sleep while being choose to battle the great Landorus? It must be ridiculing him!

Filled with anger, Landorus focused his eyes on the target and his veins seemed to adorn his muscular arms, resembling a bodybuilder. Both Braviary and Archeops were trying to make the enemy tired, but the legendary ignored the two birds completely and suddenly started to glow gold as it descended to land next to the pig-like pokemon. The blind trainers were discussing and didn't notice the danger coming from the skies.

"But Bianca, it's our strategy! We're gonna start it like this, we won't let any pokemon that can be damaged by ground type moves in battle now!" Touya was still trying to convince the blonde girl.

"That's it, Bianca. There are two main reasons for this. First, flying types can't be damaged by ground type moves and this will prevent Landorus from using something that can cause destruction around here, and second… Flying types are agile and can tire him out a bit for us to finish this off with water and ice type pokemon." N, as reasonable as always, translated the explanation of the desperate boy and made it sound like a suitable theory to be followed. They had already managed to make Touko call Samurott back.

"B-but…"

"OH MY! MUSHARNA, WATCH OUT!" Touko felt the ground vibrating and turned to see the glowing legendary getting closer. A few fissures were already being opened in the ground and some rocks seemed to be floating in the air. Bianca only had time to gasp. In the next second, a cloud of sand was spreading through all the possible directions, and they were engulfed by the massive amount of particles, making them cough as long as it lingered there.

"B-braviary, lend us a helping hand here! Well… a claw would fit it better!" The brown haired boy yelled, ordering his pokemon to blow the dust away.

"You're ridiculous! Musharna is in trouble, it sounded like gallows humor…" Touko shook her head in disapproval.

"I'm sorry but… I didn't mean to!" He replied.

"Do us a wonderful favor, SHUT UP!" The brunette female trainer added. The best part of it – They weren't seeing each other and were probably swallowing the dust when they opened their mouths to speak, or for anything else. The eagle-like bird flapped its wings at high speed and created a gust of wind from them, sending it towards the dust, finally dispersing the particles. When everything could now be clearly seen, Bianca inspected all the details of the place, looking for her Musharna. Tears were streaming down when she noticed that it was out of her sight.

"Oh no… no…" She clenched her orange blouse at the height of her pained heart, that was beating incredibly fast, aching more and more each time it pounded aggressively against her ribs. Her weak legs failed her and she fell, kneeling there, with her hands almost yanking a tuft of hair from her scalp. She bent even more forward, till her head was barely touching her thighs. "WHAT DID THAT OGRE DO TO MY FLUFFLY FRIEND?" Her long skirt was soaking wet from tears. Toyua, Touko and N had already immediately run to reassure the doleful girl. But, as they scooted closer to Bianca, the young king saw that Landorus was there, a dumbfounded expression in face while looking for something.

"Look! Landorus seems to be… puzzled…" N pointed to the legendary and the three trainers looked up to see it.

"So… It means that Musharna evaded his attack and… must be hiding somewhere." Touya described a possible outcome.

"OH! THANK YOU, ARCEUS! THAAAANK YOU SO MUCH!" Bianca squealed in happiness, feeling his boyfriend's fingers running along her cheek. She also felt like she had just got rid of the weight of the world on her shoulders. The blonde girl promptly got up and skipped around the field, trying to find her round friend. Her excited expression faded from her face and darkened when she saw where it was. A female unfezant came closer and turned its back to her – Showing that Musharna was there, frightened and in shock. When the bird pokemon lowered, Bianca saw Skyla standing right behind it. The blonde girl refused to waste time dealing with her and just took Musharna in her arms.

"That poor creature doesn't have to pay for having a pathetic trainer! Thank goodness that I've trained my unfezant so well that it's even able to save my rival's pokemon…" The gym leader took some steps forward, getting closer to Touya. "Why she's here? Her pokemon can't battle!" Skyla locked her blue eyes into his chocolate ones. They all winced when they heard an abrupt roar, remembering them that the problems were far bigger than a mere pitiful heartbreak.

"Hey guys, please… Let's leave it aside while we're battling Landorus, at least!" Touko clasped her hands together, praying for them to cease the war.

"No problem. I'm a grown up woman! Not a childish weeping girl… And you Touya… know it better than anyone else…" Skyla winked at Touya, coloring a deep red on his cheeks once he knew perfectly what she meant. The blonde girl shrugged and rested her head on Musharna, caressing it with her face while she sighed tiredly. Was she starting to give this up? "So… this is the great Landorus, hun?… Unfezant, go and get him!"

The battle went on with emolga, archeops, braviary and unfezant flying around the legendary confounding their foe with an unbelievable speed, white streaks surrounding them all. Landorus felt bewildered, trying to catch at least one of them with his hands. He managed to grab unfezant's left wing, and the bird cried out in pain and despair.

"NO! UNFEZANT, JUST DON'T GIVE UP!" The gym leader yelled. She tried to disguise her worried tone as she wanted to show them how strong she is, in all the ways. Unfezant struggled to be released from his grasp, but the master of the Kami Trio wouldn't let it go so easily.

"Braviary, use peck and hit his arm!"

"Archeops, dragon claw to stop it!"

"Emolga..." Touko frowned and turned to N. "What do I do with her?"

"Don't tell me she has only electric-type moves!"

"I taught her aerial ace… She also knows acrobatics, but they are so…"

"Hey, Touko! Don't underestimate the power of the flying types!" Skyla drew her brows together.

"No, it's not that… I'm a little disappointed because those moves won't inflict so much damage on him…" She explained. "But… Emolga, use aerial ace!" With this, they obeyed their respective trainers, but it still wasn't enough to make him let the female unfezant go. Suddenly, Landorus was totally caught off guard when a mysterious being, surrounded in a clear aura with energy around it, flew into him at top speed. Skyla's pokemon was released and Landorus almost crashed against the ground. When the creature stopped glowing, they could notice that it was a male unfezant.

"Wait… This pokemon belongs to…" Bianca said, not in a surprised manner. She was the only one who could talk since the others were left agape.

"Yeah, it's mine! I'm glad you still know a lot about me, Bianca!" Cheren finally showed up, coming from the trees behind them. Now, it was Toyua's turn to feel the uncomfortable sensation that the jealousy brings. The blonde girl would cling to this opportunity in order to take some advantage of it and make Touya pay the piper.

"…Why… did you think I would forget?" She asked with an alluring voice and came closer to him, flipping her blonde hair back.

"Oh! How beautiful! You're going to remember the old times right under my nose now!" Touya applauded, slowly and heavily.

"I see. You have no authority to claim respect, my friend. You put your ex and your current girlfriend in the same place… Just be a man and face the consequences!" Cheren spat causing Touya to flinch. Then, the two boys started to argue.

"It's not my fault!"

"It was fate, so."

"Whatever! We happened to find Skyla here again!"

"Why don't you just shatter all the hopes she still has once and for all, Touya? You keep saying you are going to make it clear for her, but then… You just leave it there instead! What you're waiting for? You came with that moral speech when I was dating Bianca… Where IS YOUR moral now?" There was a dreadful silence there.

Touya broke the silence when he chuckled dryly.

"I'm impressed, Cheren! You would do anything to make us break up… But, why, hun? Do you want to take her from me? Are you trying to steal my girlfriend?" The tension increased between them.

Fight was going on in the middle of the air and on land. Pokemon against pokemon. Human against human.

Someone will have to lose in the end.

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><p>AN: I would like to thank you guys, always! Loveeeeee!

~I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas~

May God bless you!

I think I'll upload a new chapter only next year... XD It's so close, isn't it?


	9. Chapter 8

**Happy New Year, Everybody!** XD This story is based on Pokemon White Version, but I just felt like adding the Black City to it! So it's explained... Oh! Sometimes I wonder if I'll have to change the rating...

I do not own Pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 8<strong>

"So, there's a big problem when Cheren shows some interest in me but when the great gym leader Skyla tries to make us break up, you don't say a single word against it!" Bianca placed herself between the two boys, and scowled completely at Touya.

"Just go ahead and stay with him, I can see this is what you want! After all I've done for you… Especially, after all HE has done TO YOU!"

"Hey! Calm down, everybody! We're a team now and it means that we're allies! You're acting like enemies! Aren't you ashamed for being so selfish?" Touko burst into the circle they were forming and exploded. "Can't you see that while we are here blurting those irrelevant things out and hurting each other without a purpose also knowing that it'll only bring pain and remorse later, people are suffering, homeless and they need us!" The girl won their respect as she shut them up, causing the group to reflect on the circumstances that had led them to this lame hostility. "In this case, I doubt that you're here to help them… You guys… used to be my pride and joy… Now, deception is the word! Go away if you're not even willing to listen to me!"

Touko walked away from the group and over to N, who was waiting for her to come closer with arms wide open. He noticed she was making a strenuous effort not to cry, even though the brim of her cap was covering her face as she lowered it. She had all the attentions turned to her, but didn't give a damn. Touko halted marching when she stood right before N, his glowing emerald eyes looking down at her with concernment and admiration. She's definitely that girl that always fought for justice, who would do anything to make the world a better place for every single creature, human or not. The young King hugged her tightly, kissing her forehead and rubbing her arm, causing her to smile against his chest, once she had her face buried into it. There, they both felt a sense of belonging, their warmth invading each other's bodies. The young couple smiled spontaneously, like two kids would at the sight of a wonderful playground.

"Touko… I'll be always there for you… Don't you ever forget this!"

"T-thank you, N!" She nodded at him. Half-hearted yet determined, she was slowly leaving the warmth of his body to go back to the battle.

The quartet, one by one, joined Touko and N, as they both made their way together to the battlefield, where those flying types pokemon were dealing with Landorus. Cheren couldn't manage to take his eyes off the former Plasma King, he didn't know he had come back already, also, he still liked Touko and this only made it worse for him. 'Allies…' The boy in glasses wrinkled his nose in disdain, but he knew he should just let it be for the moment.

Over again, they gathered around the protagonists of the big spectacle that was unfolding above them, forming a large circle with six components shouting their commands to their pokemon. Bianca was the only one who wasn't participating, her Musharna was back inside its Poke Ball.

"Bianca, send another pokemon out!" Touya patiently asked her, gesturing for her to hurry as he kept his eyes on the battle.

"But I-I don't have a flying type pokemon…" The blonde girl shrugged, embarrassed.

"Don't worry, that's not a problem! Hmm… Let me see… You can choose a pokemon with super-effective moves against Landorus!" The brown haired boy tried to give her some ideas.

"Oh!" She threw her hands up in the air and cheered. "I already know!" Not wasting time, the girl pushed her hand inside her bag and explored it, further and further, groping for a Poke Ball. When she finally found it, she tried to pull her hand out, but it seemed to be stuck in there. Bianca frowned and groaned. "Oww, not again…" How many times she got through this experience with her animated sprite of the game before a battle? Applying some more strength as she pulled the Poke Ball out, she abruptly removed her hand and it caused her to stumble backwards while she clumsily tried to keep her balance.

"Let's go, Simisage!" Bianca yelled and sent the pokemon out. The light turned into a primate-like pokemon, mostly green in coloration. Touya widened his eyes at Bianca's lack of concentration and Cheren immediately made his way to the blonde girl to give her a friendly advice. Skyla's laughs could be heard all the time.

"Excuse-me? Did you really choose a grass type pokemon?"

"Oh, no need to praise me for my wise choice now, dear friend!" She giggled, puffing her chest out heroically with both hands holding her sides on her large hips. Touya grabbed her arms and gently shook her. He leaned his forehead against hers, and stared deeply into her loving green eyes. She felt the temperature rise by countless degrees across her entire body.

"You simply forgot that Landorus is also a flying type!" Touya used a seductive low voice with his lips nearly touching hers. His techniques of seduction never fail him whenever he uses them. After that, he pulled his head back and released the girl, turning on his heels to walk back to his place. She stood watching him go with a dumbfounded expression on her face. It was almost like he was casting a spell on her, as she was entranced by his charm. The blonde girl gave in and lifted a shaky hand to withdraw Simisage.

"Sorry… I think I'll just back off for now…" Bianca uttered breathlessly, reaching for a lock of hair between her fingers and curling it as she twisted them sheepishly.

"You taught surf to your Stoutland, didn't you?" Cheren asked her.

"But neither she can fly nor they can take her there! She's too heavy…" Bianca answered, disappointed. "And… I have only Mienshao, Chandelure and my Emboar left here… But, either they are a fighting or a fire type pokemon… or even both of them!" She frowned. "I'll stay right here, and… hmm… I'll be cheering for our team!"

"This will definitely help us a lot!" Skyla giggled. "Well… Assuming that she wouldn't do more than troubling us here if she were battling, we should just say thank goodness!"

"Are you guys going to start all that over again?" Touko had to interrupt them again, before they could get into another slanging match. They shook their heads at her as if they were scared of what she would do. "Fine." The girl smoothed her expression a bit once her brows were so furrowed that it was even starting to give her a headache. Then, she got completely unruffled when she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"Touko, I was thinking…" N got a distant look in his eyes. "We have to go and bring Thundurus with us!" The young King could just have asked her to get her pokemon by herself, alone, but he always concerns himself with Touko's affairs, it was like they were already married.

"Why are you asking me this all out of a sudden? Is something wrong?"

"In fact, I've been listening to Landorus… He's been talking about Thundurus all the time… Maybe, if he sees him, he'll calm down… I know that he's not acquainted with you yet, but I'm sure that he likes you already! He would be on our side, Touko!" His emeralds sparkled in excitement. How she could ever resist him?

"Alright. You do have a point… But I'm going alone and you'll stay here to keep them under control!" She could notice his delighted expression fade immediately from his handsome face. He recoiled, as in embarrassment also slightly shrinking his height.

"I-I just thought we should go together… I'd like to…" A hue of pink adorned his cheeks while he looked away.

"But N, you need to stay here and look after them for me… or else I won't be able to go without the feeling that when I'm back I'll find them dead… And Landorus wouldn't be the murderer in this case, they will kill each other!" She pointed at the group but they seemed to be making some progress together.

"Yes…" N sighed. "It's ok with them. If you don't want me to come along, just tell me, then…" The green haired man felt frustration and he didn't bother to avert her gaze.

"No, N! It's not that!"

"I'll satisfy your request, I promise!" He walked a few steps away from Touko. When he's with her it's like he has no free will and it doesn't matter whether he wants to do it or not, her wills always prevail against his.

"Let's go!"

"Where?"

"Oh my… You know! Come with me!"

"You said you don't want me to!"

"What? I wasn't that serious, N! Come on!" Touko insisted and N loved the way she was starting to whine. The young man wondered either to accept it quickly and go with her or let his game drag on a little bit more. But he is too logical, analytic and rational, in other words, he's too intelligent to do something so incoherent.

"Alright, but I'll think about something that you'll have to do for me later in order to compensate this!" He smiled childishly at her and added "Let's go! What are you waiting for?"

As he moved ahead she thought 'I wish he asked me out or…' Her head reddened and she smiled sweetly 'asked me to marry him…' Touko fluttered her long lashes as swiftly as beautifly's wings, hands on her cheeks.

"But… What about my Emolga and your Archeops?" The girl stopped and asked, trying to remove that _love thing_ from her mind.

"Let's just return them to their Poke Balls. They need us to keep going." N pulled a Poke Ball from his belt. "Archeops, come back!" As he withdrew it, Touko called her Emolga back, too.

"Just… What are you doing?" Touya's eyes grew wider.

"Look, maybe Thundurus can turn it all around for us! We're going to get him!" Touko explained briefly.

"Oh, right! Where and how do you expect to find the other legendary so easily? Do you think he'll be willing to come with you? You're talking nonsense!" Cheren muffled a laugh inside his throat and moved his head from side to side in disapproval. Everybody went silent until Touko decided to clear it up for him.

"I'll find it in my Pokemon Storage System." She answered coldly, leaving the boy confused as he frowned and adjusted his glasses. Touya almost couldn't control an explosive laughter as he tried to hold it inside with his hands pressing hard against his mouth.

"Excuse-me?" His politeness sometimes gets on his friend's nerves.

"She captured Thundurus yesterday." Skyla spoke precisely to point out what he didn't seem to get.

"Please… I can't let it linger now, so… I'm counting on you to take him on for me!" The blue eyed girl took some steps forward, waving to them.

"And why IS HE going with you?" Cheren narrowed his eyes.

"Because I WANT TO and you have NOTHING TO DO with it!" Touko pointed at her own chest when she was referring to herself and pointed at his when she mentioned him in the latter statement.

"If I…" Touya's convulsive laughter was suffocating his speech. "…W-were you I would keep my mouth shut! Touko owned you twice!" He crouched, crossing his arms over his stomach.

"Oh, Arceus." Cheren rolled his eyes at him. "Someone help this boy, he's got a problem!" The boy in glasses pictured a mass facepalm on his mind when he saw the other boy punching the ground without any sight of control.

"That was too much!" The brown haired boy stood up and wiped the tears on the corners of his eyes. "Well I feel great, thanks to you, pal!" He tapped Cheren on his back and he jerked away from the touch.

"Let's go!" N snatched at Touko's hand and pulled her with him. Soon, they disappeared into the forest.

"Hmm… Looks like someone's going to make out…" Touya teased with a mischievous grin playing on his face. The other boy looked at him with fire in his eyes, ready to hurl its flames against him.

"What a nasty insinuation! Why I am not surprised that it came from you…"

"Love happens, my friend."

"SHE DOESN'T LOVE HIM!"

"Yes, she does." Touya was delighted with the way Cheren was letting his jealousy run away with him. Maybe he would banish Bianca from his thoughts for some time.

"I'm not supposed to say that but… They slept together in the same room at the Pokemon Center yesterday!" Skyla spoke privately, as by way of gossip. She had a hand concealing her lips.

"WHAT?" Cheren felt close to lose control with that. But before it could happen, they heard a loud growl coming from the skies, and both male and female Unfezant were flying together as they were trying to find a peaceful place in the area to know each other better. "And what is that now?" All the trainers stared at the two birds, which were flying elegantly above them.

"Heeeey! Come back to battle, babe!" Skyla called her Pokemon friend, but she didn't listen to her. "Ouch…" She lifted her brows and gave up.

"My Braviary won't last if he doesn't have anyone around to help!" Touya bit his bottom lip, heart beating faster.

"I'll help you, my dear! Swanna, get him!" The gym leader sent out the swan-like creature and she danced graciously in the air while showing her beautiful white plumes. "Aqua Ring!" Droplets of water appeared around her, combining to create three rings of water. If it expands, it hits the opponent. The veil of water will be able to restore Swanna's health on every turn.

"Nicely done, Skyla!" Touya smiled at her, his brown eyes glistening with hope. "Thank you for helping my Braviary!"

"And I'm able to do so much more for you, you know." She leaned to whisper it in his ear. "Now, Bubblebeam at full power!"

"Crush Claw, Braviary!" On Landorus' left side, the swan-like pokemon was coming closer with her beak glowing, ready to fire the light blue bubbles at him, and on the right side, Braviary was threatening to attack him with his sharp claws as they were glowing too. Either way, the legendary will receive a great damage, even if he manages to evade. Touya and Skyla made a strategy and it seemed to be working.

Bianca was sitting on the grass, next to a tree, with her back leaning against it. She brought her legs closer as she hugged them, watching her boyfriend getting along with his ex while they were battling together. A hand on her shoulder firmly grasped her and she turned to see Cheren sitting beside her.

"Can I do something for you?" He asked, as soothing as he could, even though it wasn't exactly something in which he excels.

"No… I'm ok." Bianca smiled weakly, not looking at him. She started to play with her fingers as if nothing really matters. Cheren observed the blonde girl for a while. In some other occasion he would be annoyed if she was jumping, leaping and squeezing her friends tightly in excitement, always beaming expansively at them, no matter what is taking place. She's vivid, happy and it is contagious. But now he felt bad about seeing her faint expression, her lack of brightness, and her usual cheerful smile was now nothing but a downward curving of the corners of her mouth. He couldn't stand her stillness, it was completely unlike her. She was mortified and it was killing him.

"I would do anything to see you happy again!" He refused to yield.

"Well… Thank you, then." The blonde girl spoke laconically.

"Bianca… Who are you? You're not being yourself!"

"Really? Now I feel better! I just… want to be somebody else… I'm a… waste, worthless, unwanted… I can't even battle… I knew it already but, it's like I'm only getting worse day after day!"

"STOP! Don't do it to yourself! I won't allow this!" He grabbed her wrists and placed himself in front of her. "Now look at me… I know that I let you down before, but I'm telling you now that… I never knew what I had!"

"…"

"What I told you, what I did… I didn't mean to! I realized how special you are to me…" Cheren used his hand to cup her face and Bianca winced at the touch. "I just wanted to know if it's too late to come back…"

"Cheren, please don't…"

"Why not?"

"I don't feel so good now, and I don't want to talk about it… Please, leave me alone and help them…" She pointed at the battlefield.

"Will this make you feel better?"

"Yes."

"If you say so… I'm going but… We still need to talk this over, I won't let you go!" Cheren stood up and searched for the chosen pokemon inside his bag. When he had it in his hands he looked back at her again, earning a beautiful smile from the blonde girl in return. 'I'll fight for you, Bianca!' He thought as he smiled back at her.

….

"I can swear I saw the perfect place to release Reshiram here!" N yelled quickly, sweat already dripping all over their faces.

"N, I can't run anymore! I can't even get motivated to go further because the only thing I see is this dense vegetation around us!" She took her hand from his and leaned on a tree so that it could take some of her weight, easing her tiredness.

"Come on, Touko! We can't waste time!" He seemed to be facing the direction of a cliff. She was about to comply with his plan but before she could tell it to him he grabbed her hand, this time firmer, pulling her to sprint along with him towards the cliff.

"Oh, dear Arceus! Stop N! There are only a few inches separating us from death!" She could already feel the loss of the earth's solid surface underneath her feet, gravity pushing her down to somewhere she doesn't want to know. The wind was blowing so sharply against their faces and bodies that it was like it was slapping them. "LET'S JUST GO DOWNSTAIRS, N! IT'S SAFER!"

"No, we would waste sixteen minutes!"

"I can't believe it!" Thinking about the sixteen minutes again made her sick, but she almost fell dead when she saw where they were going.

Almost at its edge, the young King released his white dragon which flew free and calmly in the air, about meters below the top of the cliff, where they were still plunging themselves at. Touko didn't know why she didn't stop but deep inside she trusts N like she had never trusted anyone else. Everything, anything, feels so right with him. Even risking the life by jumping from a cliff.

"Passengers, fasten seat belts!" N chuckled, playing with Touko as he took her in his arms and leapt into the valley. She shut her eyes tightly when the sensation that they were going into a free fall and they had no parachute to retard it hit her.

"WE'RE AT DEATH'S DOOR, N!"

"Don't worry, we'll be alright!"

"BEFORE WE DIE I WANT TO TELL THAT I LO…" Touko was cut off as they fell roughly onto Reshiram's back, N holding her safely in his arms and laughing in a playful manner.

"So… You were saying that you lo… and what?" The girl looked at him and he stared into her bright blue eyes, causing her to blink as she found herself on the tenterhooks. Wringing her hands, she turned the other way, blushing like crazy and shortly after she started to cry quietly and punched him repeatedly on his chest. The young King just felt it like she was gently dabbing him, hence he didn't stop her.

"I WAS SAYING THAT I LOATHE YOU! HOW DARE YOU JUMP INTO THIS HUGE CHASM WITHOUT MY PERMISSION?" She snarled, disguising her real feelings.

"You amuse me, really!"

"Do you suffer from mental illness or are you only an extremely foolish young man?"

The more she spoke the more he cachinnated. His belly laugh was so hard that he loosened his grasp around her to put a hand on his stomach. Touko furrowed her brows before she could even notice she was laughing too, as if it had infected her. After a long jubilant moment of joy, they became silent as they admired the beautiful natural scenery below, fresh air filling their lungs and the Mother Nature's songs, with its native fauna and flora, caressing their ears.

"We're in heaven." The blue eyed girl whispered. "Look, N! I'm like a shooting star!" She rose to her knees and threw her hands up in the air, bending her back backward, doing likewise with her head. She let the wind blow her long hair softly as smiled in eternal happiness.

"So I guess I'm totally lucky to see one… and even luckier for being able to catch it!" N wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to sit almost on his lap. The young King snaked one arm underneath her thighs and used the other to support her back when he noticed that Reshiram wanted to play a bit as she quickly discontinued the ride, leaving them alone in the middle of the air and glided around them. Before the couple could get scared, the white dragon caught them again on her back, causing them to laugh in surprise. Reshiram descended to reach the forest's level, where N snatched an apple from a tree and handed it over to Touko.

"Wow… Thank you! I was hungry already!" She smiled at him. "I can see that you've been teaching nice tricks to Reshiram!" Eagerly, she bit the apple and started to chow down on the sweet fruit. Regardless of her mouthful, she gently asked if he would like to share it with her, knowing that he must be starving as well. No matter how hungry he was at the moment, even if he was to take the smallest bite ever, he wouldn't be satisfied if it was the exact piece that was missing to fill her belly completely.

"No, Touko. It's yours! I got it for you…"

"Please, do accept it! You are hungry too, I know it! Please, please, please…" She repeated the same word over a thousand times to see if he would give up out of annoyance. The young King patiently rested his chin on her shoulder and let his ears pay attention to the girl. He knew she would complain, and for this she would have to change the subject sooner or later.

"N! You're just a childlike man!" She crossed her arms and let herself fall into his embrace, pouting.

"I'm too old to play your childish games, Touko. But I'll gladly teach you how to perform like a real adult, if you just give me that chance…" He muffled a laugh under his breath when she pouted. "You're like a little child!" N pointed at her mouth in which her bottom lip was slightly jutted out.

"You make me feel like a child… No worries, no dark clouds…" She sighed as she remembered her not so far away childhood.

"Touko…" N's greens eyes were filled with tears, his white skin gained a light red on his cheeks. "I…"

'_I'm flying but it doesn't mean that I can guess where we are going.' _Reshiram said, waiting for him to answer.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! We're having a lot of fun here, that's why I forgot…" N scratched the back of his head. "So… I can tell that we're almost at route fourteen, aren't we?" He heard Touko and Reshiram confirm this to him.

"We need to head to the closer city around here… Or any other place where we can find a Pokemon Center!" The girl pointed out. "We can go to Undella Town or Black City. But Undella is a bit farther though.

"Yes. Black City is my cue!" N replied.

"You said that."

'_Then so be it!'_

"I want you to eat something when we get there!" Touko told N as she heard his stomach making some noises.

"Don't worry about me!" The young man saw some beautiful flowers in a flowering plant ahead and stretched one arm out to pick up one of them as Reshiram went on. 'Smells so good! Just like her…' He thought and gave it to her.

"Oh, N…" She was left speechless by his act. Touko always acknowledged that chivalry was dead, but he is there to prove the opposite. He's so sweet, no one can ever deny it. "Thank you… How cute you are!" They blushed at the same time as she felt its sweet scent invading her.

"I wanted to put it in your head but… You're wearing a cap and we're flying so…"

"I'll keep it with me so you can put it in my hair later!" She smiled and brought his head closer to hers, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. It set him on fire. He just remained stiff for some several minutes, slowly placing his hand on his flushed cheek like he was trying to feel her lips again.

After some minutes of awkward silence, both of them still red as blood rushed through their veins frantically, the young man broke the silence.

"Did your friends bring food?" N asked as they were starting to see some large buildings and skyscrapers at the end of the route. It resembles Castelia City a lot, modern cities, two big metropolises.

"Didn't you see that big bag Touya was carrying? He probably put his entire house into it! He brought a lot of stuff with him… That boy is so devoted to eat that I'm pretty sure he has food enough to feed the whole UNOVA for years! But we're going to buy all that's necessary since we don't even know how much time we'll take to defeat Landorus…" Touko giggled as she remembered each one of Touya's quirks.

"You're right." He nodded quietly. "I just hope we can go home tonight!"

"Yeah, we have strong Pokemon we can handle it!" Her face lit but darkened in a matter of seconds. "N… The home you mentioned… It's your home, or…"

"I have no home, Touko." He looked down in sadness.

"Don't say that! My home is your home, always!" She looked at him and lifted his chin with her hand.

"Thank you!" N gave her a weak smile and she frowned.

"You're not convincing me!"

"I… was thinking about going to the castle when you get your mission accomplished…"

"What? What for?"

"I grew older there, Touko… I need to get my things, what I left there… At least…" He sighed sharply.

"No problem, then…"

'_Master, we finally arrived!'_

"Thank you, Reshiram! Again!"

'_You're welcome, master. By the way… Next time you should use Zekrom, he needs to do some exercise!'_

"You bet!" The young King laughed softly and silently while he patted his dragon on the neck. "Now you can rest, my friend." The dragon let out a small cry and returned to the Poke Ball.

"Let's go, N!" Touko was already standing at the city's entrance and waved to him. He scooted closer and they entered the city together. Chatting and walking, they went straight ahead until they could see the Pokemon Center. The brunette rushed towards the PC and opened the Pokemon Data System. N stood beside her, while she was about to withdraw the powerful Thundurus from the PC.

"So… You have only eight boxes in your storage system… Did you know that if you keep capturing pokemon, with at least one pokemon in each of them, the capacity will increase to sixteen boxes, holding four hundred and eighty Pokemon. Then, using the same logic, its capacity can be increased again to a maximum of twenty-four boxes, which means seven hundred and twenty poor creatures confined..."

"N!" The girl hit her open hand against the machine causing him to flinch at her sudden and sullen act.

"Y-yes?" He stammered.

"I need to concentrate. And… I hate when you start to make those calculations without my permission!" She snorted in disapproval.

"I'm sorry… I didn't know…" He drew back a little and she instantly felt regret about that.

"Oh no, N… I AM sorry… Really… Sometimes I think that you're being smug when you're talking to me like that… But I know it's totally unlike you!"

"Fine… You'll have to deposit one of them to make space for Thundurus." He changed the subject, looking at the screen.

"Yeah… Simisear or Liligant…"

"They are both weak against Landorus… Do you have any other Pokemon more… neutral?"

"Audino?"

"Take it too!" N smiled in spite of his annoyance. He didn't like to see those boxes made for Pokemon's confinement. 'They keep Pokemon in there like they were inanimate objects…' He sighed in repugnance.

"What's wrong?" Touko noticed his vexation as she tried to withdraw Thundurus and Audino.

"Hum…Nothing. Ready to go?"

"Not yet." With this, she took the pokemon she wanted in her party and turned the PC off. As soon as they had everything okay at the Pokemon Center, the mart was their next step and then they would be able to go back to the Abundant Shrine.

The sensitive automatic door of the market opened and the couple ran inside not to waste time. Escorted by the handsome tea green haired man, the brunette went through the place gathering their supplies and placing them into the shopping basket.

"Hyper potion, revive, full heal, full restore, fresh water, soda pop, lemonade, some candies, cookies…" Touko examined all the goods and walked over to the furthest shelves of the market. As she came closer, her bright blue eyes glowed at the sight of all those feminine stuff she's been longing for.

"Oh dear… Mommy is here! I need you so!" She stretched her arm to reach for a bag of sanitary towels and get her most favorite brand, but she was frozen solid in her place when she heard N's voice right behind her.

"What are we going to have for dinner? They sell frozen pizza here! Which flavor would you like to have?" The young man looked excited.

"Oh… Hum… I… N! We don't have a freezer to keep it from spoiling while we're travelling!" Touko tried to get him distracted. "W-why don't you go and look for something else we can eat?"

"Alright. But I'll wait for you!" He smiled and she could swear his lips were assuming a U-shape. It was funny how attentively he was staring at her, like he knew that she was hiding something from him.

"You don't have to. I'm ok, just go and get something for the dinner!" Grip was starting to leave her mind. The reason why she didn't want him to see her taking those bags was kind of obvious. Anyone else would understand, but he was exactly the only one in the whole world who would ask her some embarrassing question concerning it. Would that be so hard to explain or simply too embarrassing? Would he understand easily? What if he feels disgusted about her? Touko tried to guess, but his reaction was a great mystery.

"…" The brunette saw a kid getting into the market with what looked like a foreign Pokemon in his arms and took this wonderful opportunity to distract him. "Hey N! Have you ever seen that Pokemon? Oww… It's so cute!"

"Where?" The young King turned around with a light brisk motion, searching for the unspecified figure while the girl snapped at all the goods she needed and strode to the counter, the items were quickly spread all over its surface. She paid for them and grabbed the shopping bags as she received a gentle "Thank you!" from the seller.

"Pheew!" The brunette hissed in relief while leaning her back against the wall after exiting the market. "That was close!" Lifting one arm up to rub her forehead, she stood waiting for her companion. It was about midday and the sun of scorching heat was showing no mercy, especially, to the Black City, which seems to lack ventilation because of its dark features and huge buildings.

"Oh Arceus!" Touko found herself moving her hand up and down rapidly as if by fanning her face, but useless.

"Touko, I was looking for you! That Pokemon is a Cleffa from Kanto Region!" N explained and gently took the shopping bags from her hand. "I'll carry them!" He also slid his hand inside his pocket and got some money from there, pushing it inside hers.

"Wha? What's that?" The girl widened her eyes and took the money in her hand.

"I'll never let you pull your money when I'm around! It's on me, Touko, always!" He gave her a cute crooked smile and gestured for her to take the lead. She looked at the money in her hand and gaped.

"No, N! That's far too much! I didn't spend all this money there, even if I had…" Touko tried to place the money back into his pocket but he swerved just in time.

"You're a stubborn one, hun?" N laughed, his voice so seductive and tempting that Touko could reckon that he can surpass the sun in the ability of making the world hotter day by day.

"Two of a kind!" The girl winked at him and they laughed, really enjoying each other's presence.

….

When N and Touko came back they didn't imagine that life was holding another big surprise for them.

"Touko, N! Come here!" Touya waved to catch their attention.

"What's going on?" The girl asked. The wind was blowling aggressively, almost choking them.

"We battled Landorus using water-type Pokemon, and we almost defeated it, but… I think he summoned the Kami of Wind… Tornadus…" Cheren added wisely, fumbling with his glasses.

"Whaaaat?" Touko stumbled in surprise. "It can't be!"

"They are so connected to each other that they can feel when the balance of the Trio is fading and… Express their chagrin over the disturbance…" N spoke, feeling the wind messing his beautiful tea green hair.

"Hey… I just can't keep my beret on my head!" Bianca cried out as she came closer to Touya and tried to shield herself behind him. The brown haired boy turned around and hugged her tightly, softly pressing her head against his chest with his hand. Skyla couldn't care less since she was far too curious about the green genie-like Pokemon.

"Look at the white mane on the back of his head… It reminds me of a cloud!" Her eyes danced with wonder, shimmering at the legendary flying-type creature. "He has to be mine!"

Tornadus positioned himself in front of Landorus, which had already received so much damage from the previous battle. The legendary growled loudly, almost starting a vicious hurricane to intimidate the young trainers.

"TOUKO! SEND THUNDURUS OUT, HURRY!" N yelled, the wind blowing each time more aggressively.

"I'll blow a fuse if he doesn't stop this!" Touya spat as he saw how scared Bianca was. "Landorus is weak now, let's finish him first!" It's not like he could determine how much damage the legendary has got by reading his HP, but he had experience enough to realize that the its bar was probably yellow – If he were playing the game. Some more hits and this would be over.

"Thundurus…" Touko kissed the Ultra Ball in a loving manner before sending him out. "Help us!"

As soon as the light materialized into the second element of the Kami Trio, all the fuss dispersed immediately, remaining only the natural sound of the air. No growls, no cries, no shouts, no earthquakes, no storms, no hurricanes. The silence spread just like those huge earthquakes did on earth's surface. The three Pokemon stared at each other, frozen in time and space.

The world seemed to stop turning.

* * *

><p>Well, next chapter the real story will begin.<p>

Thanks to** AshKetchumDarkSide** I think I didn't misspell Touya's name again, I think... LoL

I** love** the reviews, I **love** you guys! **Thank you** **so very much! **


	10. Chapter 9

Well, I must tell ya I skipped the battle... As I said, let the story begin!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 9<strong>

Several hours later the fight was finally over. The Abundant Shrine was almost completely destroyed and no one would ever expect a different outcome for this. A huge hole and a bunch of fissures were now adorning the ground which had lost its beautiful green carpet as those violent blows, one after another or even at the same time, hit the ground with no sight of stopping. Some trees were burning and in order to prevent the fire from spreading out and incinerate the whole forest, the trainers managed to put out the burning by using their water type Pokemon. Dust everywhere, fainted Pokemon - Damaged scenery. The place was nothing but destruction even though there wasn't so much debris because fortunately it was no human constructed environment where the buildings would fall, creating a real massive disaster. The remains of the battle consisted of shattered rocks, felled or burned trees, smoke, holes and… Tired trainers. But it still wasn't beyond redemption, though. As soon as the dust was starting to disperse, the place became visible and the teenagers withdrew their fallen teammates muttering a soft "Thank you" as they were back into the Balls.

"What a… Big mess!" Touya waggled his hand while he coughed. "Man, I need air! My lungs are filled with dust!" He coughed a bit more as he bent forward. When he did it he spotted the fainted Landorus inside a hole of average length, totally unconscious with Tornadus lying limp next to him. He promptly ran towards his bag and searched for his Ultra Ball, sprinting back to his prior place with the item in his hand. "Now, be mine!" As he shouted, everybody turned their attention to him knowing that the place was starting to be clearly seen again. In a matter of seconds, the ground/flying type legendary was caught causing Touya to twitch one side of his lips upwards as they started to open and turn into a wide grin right after, making anyone able to even count his teeth. "YEAH! I GOT HIM!"

The brown haired boy jumped really high and punched the air. With the movement, his blue jacket along with the black shirt he wore underneath it, lifted up and then moved down back again, showing his athletic abdomen. Watching this, Skyla remembered the time when he was her man, only hers. Suddenly, her daydreaming turned into a real nightmare when Bianca cheered, clapping her hands loudly and walked over to her boyfriend in a very bouncy way, going insane to meet him for a suffocating hug. Not surprisingly, at about halfway she tripped on one of all those scattered rocks and fell on the dirty ground, landing horizontally as she hit her front body flat against its surface, almost performing a nice belly flop. With the impact, the items she was carrying inside her bag started to come forth abruptly, as the internal pressure forced them out and her things were being widely distributed over the field in a split second. An empty Poke Ball rolled smoothly and lazily on the surface until it stopped right at the border of the hole where Tornadus was. In fact, it was threatening to fall into the cavity, going back and forth as it tried to regain its balance. Everybody watched the Poke Ball dance as the expectation made them all even unable to breathe.

"No… NO! Tornadus is meant to be MINE!" Skyla quickly looked for the Ultra Ball she brought just to capture the flying type legendary, if she had the chance to. When she pulled it the Poke Ball finally fell into the pit, touching the fainted Pokemon with its button and opening, drawing in the red light and moving a little bit before stopping completely. But it disappeared just like Touya's Ultra Ball did a few seconds before, because they had already six Pokemon in their party. The six trainers ran and looked down at the bottom of the hole, but they saw nothing there.

"W-where is it?" Bianca gasped.

"We captured them, my sweet girlfriend! They were sent to our Pokemon System Storage!" Touya felt like he wasn't able to control his expansive happiness anymore and let himself explode as he celebrated the event. He took Bianca in his arms and started to spin around as they both shared their radiant laughs and exultant joy. The gym leader felt hot tears forming but she managed to restrain them. Sighing, she turned to the other side and saw a helicopter getting closer and some TV reporters, cameramen and scientists arriving via land.

"I'm glad that it's finally over." N stated quietly and walked away from the inconvenience. He feels utterly uncomfortable with people and wants to avoid them at any cost. "I'll hide and you'll tell me when they're gone, right?"

"Yeah but… I think they aren't going so soon…" Touko replied as she saw how many they were and Touya waving to the camera with Bianca beside him, trying to be on the TV news as well. She heard the brown haired boy yelling something like "Mom, I love you! I'm on TV!" and knew that he was about to give them an interview.

"Yes, correct. Look at those scientists… They probably came here to study the weird earthquakes' phenomenon since this area has no conditions to create those seismic excitations… It would be a great subject for their doctorate, if they don't have it yet." N pondered and then took some more steps to keep his distance. "Touko, there's a man calling your name." The young King pointed at Cedric Juniper and the girl turned on her heels to meet the man.

"I'll be right back, N."

"Fine."

First off, Touko met Cedric Juniper halfway as he came to greet her. She told him everything about the research and how things happened in a blink of an eye, stressing that she was pretty lucky to find those Pokemon in a matter of hours. The brunette continued on as they walked over to the crowd and cameras.

The trainers stayed there for at least more two hours to answer all questions and elucidate every remaining doubt, also offering help to the victims of the earthquakes. Night came as time went by, and everyone slowly started to leave the place with tiredness disturbing their brains and bodies, heavy eyelids that made it no more possible to remain aware. The trainers healed their Pokemon using Revive and Full Restore and made their way back home, flying at low speed not to get their Pokemon even more exhausted. After some hours, they arrived at Nuvema Town and went to Professor Juniper's lab instead of going home.

"Late at night we still have to see that woman? Are you kidding me?" Touya snarled as Touko was pulling him by the arm.

"Do not show resistance, big boy, or I'll find some real painful manner to make you come along!" The blue eyed girl answered, biting her lip and frowning with eyes tightly shut as she used all the strength she had to drag him along.

"But… I'm tired!" He dug in his heels stubbornly.

"We're all tired, dear, but we need to see Professor Juniper because we have the Pokemon she needs to study." Bianca yawned, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, great! Now I'm going to yawn too!" Cheren raised his glasses and applied pressure on his eyes with a circular motion as he got drowsy, opening his mouth widely. "I always have to yawn when I see someone else doing so…"

"Yeah, it's interesting. There are some theories that try to explain its origin and why animals yawn. One of them explains that when we are bored, tired or sleepy we breathe slower and then, the amounts of oxygen will reduce, so our cells won't have enough of this element for proper functioning. In consequence, the levels of carbon dioxide gas will increase, creating a situation that alerts the brain to induce a yawn in order to revert this. I do believe that correcting the levels is not the main cause… Some studies proved otherwise, that's why I'm refuting this hypothesis." The smart young King spoke quickly, not stopping to even inhale more oxygen, his gaze meeting the starry sky, index finger poking his bottom lip.

"I've heard about this already. The Scientists say that our lungs can't detect low levels of oxygen, so I'm not into this theory either. The other theory compares the brain to a computer, saying that when temperature rises, we need to yawn and receive loads of cool air by doing it, making the brain work better in cooler conditions." Cheren replied politely, adjusting his glasses.

"This one is yet to be proved, but I take it as a possible explanation. You know, breathing through the nose reduces the yawning levels once the nasal cavity vessels lead cool blood to the brain. By the mouth it's different, though." N was willing to continue the conversation as Cheren astonishingly seemed to be enjoying it.

"I hope they can be friends." Touko smiled, looking at the boys. Taking advantage of the brunette's distraction, Touya twisted forcibly his arm and spun around, releasing himself from the girl's grasp. He quickly made his way to Bianca and pecked her on the lips before fleeing to his house.

"You'll never take me alive!" The brown haired boy teased as he ran away. "See you tomorrow if I manage to wake up!" His laughs echoed through the street and he disappeared.

"You just wait, Touya!" Touko gritted her teeth and flipped her hair back with a "Humph!"

"Er… Do we really need to see the Professor now? She must be sleeping already!" Bianca asked as if she was being corrupted by Touya's misbehavior.

"Are you going to act up just like your troublesome boyfriend now? That boy has been driving me up the wall lately! And you… cut it out before I go spare on you too!" Touko spat waiting for Bianca to understand her frustration. "Professor Juniper is vouching for me since the very first minute she asked me to accomplish this task for her. She needs those Pokemon as soon as she can get them, thus I won't wait until tomorrow!"

"Enough said, Touko. I'm sorry!" With Bianca's lips starting to quiver, the other girl noticed that she went too far.

"… It's not your fault, Bianca. Let's go!" Sighing, the brunette patted the blonde girl's shoulder who gave her a bone cracking hug in return. They looked around to see N and Cheren talking about theories, encyclopedias and good books they used to study with.

"Let's just leave them there…" Touko decided as she knocked on the lab's door, a large sweat drop was above her eye.

"…"

"…"

Silence until…

"WHO THE HELL DARES TO DISTURB ME THIS LA…" The door slammed open causing the girls to evade from the violent movement. As expected, Bianca fell and hit her butt against the pavement.

"Ouch… That hurts…" The blonde girl tried her best not to breathe since it only made it worse.

"Oh, my Arceus! What I've just done?" Juniper yelled, stretching one arm out to help Bianca on her feet. As she got up, she received support from Touko and Aura as they both helped her to get into the lab. They slowly sat the girl down on the couch and took their seats too.

"I have to apologize for this, girls! But… those two strong lads right over there… we should have called them to help us out with this little maiden here!" Aura stroke Bianca's arm with a concerned look in her eyes.

"Pffft…" Touko immediately placed her hands on her mouth to hold her laugh in. "Cheren… is a… a strong lad?" Her face was starting to become red from the great pressure she was applying against her light colored skin.

"If you're making a mock of Cheren because he looks like he has no muscles and didn't bother to mention your lovey-dovey boyfriend it means you can't deny that he's a deliciously robust young man!" Bianca poked Touko with the elbow.

"W-what?" The brunette stammered just to make the blonde girl gain more confidence to proceed.

"Are you nervous, Touko-Chan? Why? Does love make you go uneasy?" The blonde girl giggled, clasping her hands together and lifting them up next to her left cheek.

"Give it a rest, Bianca!" Touko barked, rising from her seat. "Professor, don't listen to her! We're here because…"

"Oh, no… It's alright! I was enjoying it! So… You're really dating the former King of Team Plasma, Touko? Now that's irony of fate!" Juniper fell into the couch and bit her nail.

"No, no, no, no! Don't you drift with the tide, Professor! N is only a friend… He just came back and now we're getting to know each other better, that's all there is!" She spoke, a bit disappointed.

"I see, I see… Bianca used to tell me the same when she was about to date Touya! I know you very well, kids!" Professor Juniper laughed and stood up. "Want something to drink or eat? Well, hmm… I think the only thing I have here is… water… Oh!" She grabbed a bottle and took a sniff. "Alcoholic drink! Is this Vodka? But… You're too young for this!" She frowned. "I need to buy food… Oh, I know! Touya will to do this for me tomorrow! Is he in Town, Bianca?"

"He came back with us but… he got away…" The blonde girl answered while massaging the small of her back because she didn't wanted to stroke her butt in front of the others. The Professor was acting so clumsily and she thought it was being very funny.

"Oh, yeah? Better off without him around, then!" The Professor handed over some fresh water to the girls, spilling the liquid on Bianca's lap. "How do you stand him?" Aura shook her head lightly, laughing to herself as the blonde girl scratched her beret uncomfortably and dabbed her soaked skirt. She looked at Touko who read the _help me_ expression in her eyes.

"Hmm… Professor! Aren't you surprised to see me here?" Touko cut the latter subject off and focused on what matters for the moment.

"…" The woman stared at the girls for some dull seconds.

"…" And so did the brunette.

"Sorry?" Aura asked.

"Mission accomplished!" The brunette opened her arms victoriously.

"Oh!" The woman became numb and slowly glanced at Bianca who was nodding exaggeratedly.

"Professor?" Touko snapped her fingers together.

"What?"

The brunette sighed sharply. "The research, Professor! I caught Thundurus, Bianca caught Tornadus and that ordinary boy caught Landorus… I even had to say that he's the best trainer ever all the way back home… What a punishment!" The girl crossed her arms and watched Juniper leap out from her seat, throwing her hands up as she moved towards her.

"I OWE YOU ONE, TOUKO! THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH!" The woman hugged the girl and jumped, taking the brunette by the hand and pulling her along to dance around the couch until they became seriously dizzy. Aura stumbled and fell on the floor, laughing hard and babbling until she got to sleep right there. Bianca kneeled on the couch to look behind it and saw the woman lying on the floor as she snored loudly.

"What just happened?" Bianca asked half scared, half confused.

"I think she needs to go and chill out since she has been through so much heavy work lately, but not like that… She just collapsed!" Touko's eyes widened and she took her by the wrists.

"Let me give you a hand!" Bianca promptly stood up and immediately felt her sore gluteal muscles. "Yeah, I'll give you only one single hand because I'll use the other to massage my behind…" The blonde girl grimaced in pain as she hobbled towards the unconscious woman. Touko couldn't help laughing at her honest comment.

"I know, I shouldn't be laughing… But that was hilarious!" She breathed fast to recover the air she didn't drew in for some time.

"Oh, no problem… I would do the same if I were you!" Bianca winked, leaning forward to grab the Professor's lower legs and lift her up to set her down on the couch, but a cracking sound apparently coming from her spinal column made her stop. "Ouch, again! I'm sorry Touko… I won't be able to handle this…"

"It's ok, but I can't do this alone…" They both stopped and slowly faced the doorway. From there, they could see the boys standing on the outside and Touko rolled her eyes as she took some steps closer and shouted "Time's up, guys! We've got a problem here and it came to a head, so I need some help! Either that or the wheels fall off!" The answer came fast as they quickly got inside and saw the woman's body extended to the fullest width on the floor. Immediately they put the Professor flatly on the couch and Cheren took one of her wrists to check the pulsation, placing two fingers on it and staring attentively at his watch. He noticed her face was red and she was also kind of warm.

"You just need to count the number of beats in ten seconds and then you multiply this number by six to determine how many times her heart beats in one minute." N explained, crouching beside him and pointing at the device.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I wouldn't really need the whole friggin' minute to read her pulsation! You're not the only one here who enjoys math, Mr. I-Know-All!" Cheren spat, narrowing his eyes behind his glasses.

"Yeah, you'll need the whole minute if you don't pay attention to it now." The green haired man replied, smiling naively yet ironically. The boy in glasses hissed in disapproval but did as he said.

"Why multiply by six?" Bianca wondered, incredulous.

"Because…" N started.

"Don't! She always wants the easier way but just leave her to find it out on her own and then she'll probably come across an answer in about three weeks!" The boy in glasses chimed in and started to count the seconds.

"Three weeks? That's too much time for such a simple question!" The young King muttered, impressed.

"How rude, Cheren!" The blonde girl turned her back to him with cruciform veins popping above her eye.

"Around 50 bpm… If it's below 60 bpm it's called bradycardia…" He ignored her as he tried to ease off the tension, and added "It's normal, sometimes…" Cheren stood up and inspected her body as if he found something smelling suspicious. He bent forward, closer to her face and used his sense of smell. "Well, this explains…" The boy sighed, looking at the confused girls and then, at the young King. "This respectable, decent woman, who has a moral life and uses it to study only, improving science with her knowledge, made of a virtuous behavior… is drunk." He finished lowering his voice. For some time, they only heard the cold wind blowing its midnight song as it moved softly through the door's lab. The girls burst out laughing, breaking the silence as they realized that the tragedy was turning into comedy. "… Girls…" The black haired boy whispered.

"Interesting... Alcohol is a vasodilator and it allows more blood to run through the tissues. That's why she's red and warm." N spoke and continued "It makes the diameters of blood vessels wider, decreasing the pressure. That's why she's got a low pulse rate, but it still isn't dangerously low… Her heart beats will gradually get back to normal."

"Yeah, let's just leave her to rest for the moment. Tomorrow she'll probably wake up with a terrible heartache but, unfortunately, that's the price…" Cheren walked around the lab and called out one of her assistants to look after the woman while she was under the influence of alcohol.

They said goodnight and told the man to contact them if anything comes up. After that, Cheren walked Bianca home as N and Touko walked down the street with a weary pace. The blue eyed girl just hummed to distract herself from the awkward sensation of being alone with the Plasma King in her precious hometown. They didn't say a single word before arriving at Touko's house.

There was a beautiful fence that enclosed the cozy house as well as its wonderful garden, which was kept by her mother. It was made of posts of timber, painted white and was a little bit small. It followed a pattern, making the place look totally neat. The couple walked over to the front door where they stopped. The girl lifted her stretched index finger up to her mouth in a demonstration for him to be quiet, he nodded and she nervously searched for the keys, which key chain was fitted with a tiny plastic Oshawott, inside her bag.

'Dear Arceus… Please… My mother has to be sleeping…' With the desired key already in her hand she inserted it in the lock, breathing fast as she slowly twisted the knob and pushed the door inwards. Touko knew every detail of her house, every concealed flaw and it really came in handy for the moment since she wasn't willing to deal with her mother in such an exhausted state. They almost couldn't see the living room, which was the area that anyone would first see after entering the place. The girl took N by the hand and cautiously leaded him upstairs as moonlight offered some brightness in there, displaying the ideal time and place where lovers would confess their feelings without fearing rejection.

"Your heart is beating like greased lightning…" N whispered, careful not to make any unnecessary noise.

"I'm quite nervous…. How do you know it?" Touko explained, looking around.

"I'm holding your hand, so I can feel it. Why are you nervous?"

"Let me answer this later, N… Okay? Here…" She opened her bedroom's door and gestured for him to get into it. "This is my room. You just stay quiet and hide if you hear any other voice, got it?" The young King nodded hesitantly and went into the room as she closed the door. He walked idly, too shy to even lean against the wall. He didn't want her to think he was sticking his nose into her personal life, once one's room is the most private place where secrets are held and personalities revealed. The young man stood rigidly formal in the middle of her room as he watched the girl come in and close the door behind her.

"She's not home…" The girl removed her cap and pulled out her ponytail as she fell into bed, massaging her scalp while she hummed. She opened one eye and noticed the silent man in her room. She quickly turned over on the mattress to face him.

"What's up?" Touko asked. "Come here, don't be afraid!" She tapped some empty space in the bed beside her. He smiled weakly at her.

"I like your home, Touko. It's comfortable, warm, neat… I'm really enjoying my stay, even though I've been here for what it seems to be… only a few seconds, but… your mother… I don't know if she would ever like the idea and… I may disturb people if I stay…" N only stared at the floor, moving his feet as if he was drawing something invisible on the floor.

"Come on! My mother won't complain, she's a nice woman!" Touko stood up and made her way to the closet, picking up some fresh clothes for her to change into. "Hmm… I guess I don't have anything for you here… There wasn't any male human living with us in this house before!" She searched for anything that would fit N, but it never existed and she knew it. Sitting on her heels, she gave him an apologetic look causing him to smile at her.

"Don't worry about that, I'll buy some new clothes tomorrow. I used to sleep wearing nothing on, so that won't be a problem!" N took some steps forward. "Problems are there to be solved, aren't they? Just put the values of the constants and solve for x." He laughed, enjoying himself. "Is that ok if I take a shower now?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Touko waved her hand like dismissing him. "But… HEY!"

"What?"

"…" The girl lifted a white T-shirt up to cover her reddened face, ice blue eyes peering from behind the clothing. She giggled quietly before adding "You c-can't sleep w-with n-nothing on…" Touko wanted to kill herself after this, but she had to do what is right. Even though her voice came out muffled by the shirt, he could make out what she said.

"Yes, fine." N chuckled softly and closed the bathroom's door. The girl resisted the urge to run and peek at him through the opening where the key is inserted.

Some minutes later he came out wearing only his slacks, exposed chest adorned with the cord that bears the little Saturn ball which hangs around his neck and barely reaches his stomach. Her eyes almost bulged outward while she couldn't help thinking 'he does not make any effort to be sexy!'

"You can sleep in my bed! Anyway, I placed an inflatable mattress on the floor if you don't mind… It's very comfortable but I had a hard time filling it!" Touko mopped her forehead with the towel she was already holding. "I'll have a shower and you… Feel free to do what you feel like doing!" She said as she shut the door.

He lay down on the mattress and closed his eyes, forearms crossing behind his head and he stayed like this until he fell asleep in about two minutes. It's always so relaxing to spread over a soft surface, stretching every single part of the body, after having such a tiring day.

"Tomorrow is a brand new day, isn't it, N?" Touko said as she exited the bathroom and noticed he was already unaware of the world around him. She leaned to see his innocent expression as he slept and took a blanket to cover his enticing body, which was luring her into temptation. She knelt next to him and brushed his bangs with her fingers, but he didn't even twitch at the light touch of her fingertips. She hummed a song that instantly turned into a lullaby as she started to go sluggish, struggling to keep her eyes open. Touko finally gave in, leaning completely to rest her head on N's chest as she dropped off and drifted far away from reality. They graciously slept there feeling each other, even if it's unconsciously.

But…

Little did she know, her mother was already on her way back home.

* * *

><p>AN: I know, I know that Landorus and Tornadus were easily caught but no problem if we press the fast forward button here, hun? Actually, I wanted to change rating just for safety, but it's not like there would be some heavy scenes. That's all! I'll just keep it, but if you guys want otherwise... *giggles*

**THANK YOU, ALWAYS!**

** Loooooooove! ;)**


	11. Chapter 10

**I do not own Pokemon.**

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 10<strong>

* * *

><p><em>Friday, 4:40 am.<em>

_Nuvema Town "The Start of Something Big."_

It was cold outside, but the dawn sky was inviting. Even the soft breezes coming from the warm sea were absent, as well as its large waves. Everything went calm. The sun was still hiding below the horizon, but the presence of weak sunlight could be seen already in the sky as morning twilight started to appear before the sunrise. Up there, the upper atmosphere was gaining, little by little, a beautiful lilac colored hue, making Nuvema Town one of the most privileged places to live in UNOVA region.

* * *

><p>"Please, stop right there." The woman pointed at one cushy house, located almost at the end of the street.<p>

"That one in the middle?" The cabdriver asked.

"Yes, please."

The woman quitted the cab after paying the man for his services.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Mistress."

Mrs. White walked slowly until she finally got into home and pulled a chair, placing it next to the large window of the living room. She sat down and stretched her legs, propping her head up on her right arm, upon the table. Anyone else would eagerly run to bed, but she wanted to stay up without sleeping when problems start to stir inside her head. And so does everybody else. No one can ever get to sleep when push comes to shove.

Meanwhile, in Touko's bedroom, N's eyes fluttered open as the sun's rays started to light up the room. Its light beamed on the green haired man, waking him up and urging to watch the gorgeous sunrise through the window. He soon noticed he wasn't alone when he tried to sit, making so much more effort to rise to an upright position as someone else's weight, was pushing him back down.

"Touko." He muttered, eyes widened. The young man thought it was really good to feel her with him that way, but not when getting up is the thing to be done, once her body was almost on the top of him.

"Touko, please…" N shook her gently, speaking softly but she just smiled and tightened her grasp even more. He sighed, also thinking how pretty she looked while sleeping. He softened underneath the girl.

"Is it really possible I'm gonna miss the sunrise? I think not…" He grinned as he carefully pushed her slightly off of him. He couldn't just decide whether to wake her up or not. Cautiously, he slid his body sideways while holding her so that she wouldn't crash into the mattress when he's finally out. After taking some courage, he placed his feet on the freezing floor which caused him goosebumps. Then he waited and laid the girl on the mattress. She just turned the other way, curling and twisting the cover along her body.

N got up and tiptoed across the bedroom, silently opened the door and when he was about to pull himself downstairs, he froze at the sight of Touko's mom in the living room, having enough time to notice that she was crying.

'Now I wasn't ready for this…' Startled, the young King immediately came back to the room, but this time not so silently since he bumped against the door and caught the woman's attention.

"TOUKO, TOUKOOOO!" N definitely decided to wake her up, shaking her quickly and speaking a bit louder. Regaining consciousness, the girl stiffened at the King's image whose mouth was keeping a miserable distance from hers. A deep blush crept across her face when she realized how their lips threatened to meet with any slight movement.

"Touko, is that you?" Mrs. White asked loudly but lower than a shout while climbing the stairs.

"Look! Your mother is here, she's gonna see me!" He faced the doorway, trembling slightly.

"Hm… Are you afraid of my mother?" She asked, still groggy while pushing him off of her weakly.

"I'm breaking out in a cold sweat…" N's fearful expression plus her mother's steps approaching the room made the girl jump immediately away from the mattress and do something.

"I guess I understand your eye-bulging nostril-flaring fear!" She leaned and gestured for the concealed spot underneath her bed. "Here! Come on, make it snappy!" The young King crawled on his hands and knees to hide securely. Like a shot, Touko threw herself into bed and waited for the woman.

"Touko?" Her mother looked inside the room carefully. "I think I heard someone else's voice calling your name…"

"Momma…" The young girl pretended she was still waking up. Well, maybe she didn't need to pretend at all. Yawning lazily she added "You're hearing things!"

"If you say so..." She hunched her shoulders. "How have you been?" Mrs. White popped in the room after seeing the girl lying in bed. She kissed her forehead and sat next to her, brushing some strands of hair away from her daughter's face with motherly fingers.

"Hmm… I'm just well enough…"

"Sounds no good… What's the matter?

"Nothing. I'm only tired, that's all! Oh, Mooomy!" Touko rose from lying, folding her legs under her thighs with ankles turned outwards and the balls of the feet lowered. "I did it! I took only two days to get the job done! I really brought the house down!" The girl sprang her folded legs off the bed and it started to shake with the movement. She barely could hear N's faint gasp.

"I'm impressed, darling! And did you see Professor Juniper after that?"

"Ah… Yeah, but… Let's say that she was seven sheets to the wind at the moment…"

"Well, that's normal…" Mrs. White chuckled. "You just need to wet your whistle sometimes!"

"Wet? Mom, she was cork high and bottle deep yesterday! If it was just for being thirsty she would have some water or a single sip and enough!" Touko stared at her mother, blue eyes on blue eyes.

"You have a point, she had too much of it… But I still think she's not a dipsomaniac, I hope so! And you… hold your tongue and turn a blind eye to this incident! Do I make myself clear, Touko?"

"As crystal." The brunette rolled her eyes.

"Perfect." She got up and before turning on her heels, she hugged her child firmly, leaving the room right after. She yelled while walking to her room "I'll go shower and rest a little bit. If you want me to cook something for you, then I'll be up in two hours at the most."

"Alright!" Touko answered and stretched her neck sideways in an attempt to hear the door slamming shut. When it did, she looked under the bed. "All clear, your highness!" She curled her upper lip, letting her head incline downward to glance at the young man.

"That was so brief! I thought you two would make me wait here for forever and a day…" N hauled himself out of the narrow place he had been trying to fit in for the last minutes. Squatting, he tugged at his clothes and immediately looked at the window.

"The sun… it's rising! How I wanted to see the exact moment it happened… You know, that horizon there makes it even more wonderful!" His eyes glowed brighter as they admired the morning light in wonder. Suddenly, his sparkling emeralds turned into a dim grayish onyx stone as his expression darkened. "Touko…"

"Yes?" She was busy brushing her hair.

"I need to tell you something but prepare yourself first… It may get you worried…" He didn't face her way, standing quiescent before the pane of glass.

"What it is? You're making me a bundle of nerves, N!" Touko interrupted grooming herself in front of the mirror in order to direct full attention to his considerations. Letting go of the sunrise, he came closer to her until his tall silhouette blocked her entire field of vision, his face showing nothing but indecision like he shouldn't tell what he saw.

"I noticed that your mother was crying in the living room…" N almost regretted telling her but on the other hand he felt like he had just got rid of a Wailord's weight on his shoulders.

"Oh my Arceus…" Her eyes started to be filled with tears, but they didn't fall. She lowered her head to let it fall into her hands. "That's why she seemed so empty! It was like I was not there at all!" She added linking N's observation to hers.

"You'd better not talk to her about it now, anyways!" N stated.

"What might this be?"

"You're asking the wrong person!"

"Thanks for reminding me!" She giggled unwillingly. "Waste no time to shower and then go downstairs for breakfast, ok! Go!" Touko clapped her hands to motivate him.

"I read once…" Pause to remember. "Ladies first!" N said as a real gentleman.

"You silly!"

….

Bianca awoke from her conflicting nightmares that morning, but didn't bother to get up. She was lying there thinking about the past and the present day, how some things changed, how others remained the same. Staring at the ceiling, life seems to be projected onto its upper limit just like a screen, as if watching a movie. She had been with Cheren yesterday night while he escorted her home also making sure to remember her how they needed to talk, and talk seriously. It's not like Bianca was completely in the dark about Cheren's secret since he had already tried to take his first step to get her heart back before it could grow even more in love with Touya and settle in definitely.

That's when it hit her – Bianca was on the fence. Her heart skips a beat for them both but the blonde girl just needed to figure out if in Cheren's case it had something to do with the anguish that still lingered in her chest.

(BIANCA'S POV)

I just want to get Cheren out of my head! Because of him I know how humiliation tastes like and still feel my heart aching every now and then. I couldn't have loved him more, he meant the world to me. I was blind. While I was thinking about us, that we would finally make it, he was helplessly in love with Touko, who happens to be my best girlfriend… I was a fool! He was using me, trying to forget her but in the end I was the only one alone because he didn't care about it, no one ever did care about me when it comes to love, except for… my dear boyfriend! He gave me a shoulder for the crying on, he was there for me when I most needed, willing to do anything to cheer me up, but only as a friend. Since we were kids he always felt a strong concern for me and this makes me feel so special, so loved… But I never saw him as anything more than that, a friend, because I wanted Cheren so blindly… Poor Bianca! Now the only thing that's missing is finding out that Touya liked Touko too. This would make me feel the most invisible person wandering around aimlessly. Why do I always have to fall at the first hurdle? I feel so powerless… And to make it even worse, I have to stand that gym leader at Touya's feet! She's a… a… well is it really possible I am not able to use some bad language even in my thoughts? Whatever… That awful woman takes some unfair advantage of Touya's dry spell to lure him back to her! So disgusting! I can give him anything he wants too, it's not her prerogative. Absolutely not! I shall not stay stone-dead here! I can't take Cheren's image prickling in the back of my mind anymore… I'll go see him and settle this conclusively!

….

"Good morning, Mr. Komor! Is Cheren home?" Bianca greeted Cheren's father, peeping her head through the door.

"Oh, hi miss Noir! How are you?" The elegant man saluted the girl, opening the door widely. "Please, come in!" He invited her while he was putting his necktie around him to get it tied in a knot.

"I'm fine, thank you!" She replied politely.

The Komor family's politeness was extremely remarkable. Their good reputation is one of their most esteemed achievements once values like moral, ceremoniousness, formality, civility and gentleness are always prioritized, no matter the situation, time and place.

"Please have a seat while I'm gone to tell him that you're here!" He made his way upstairs but stopped. "Would you like some magazines to read, some coffee or anything else?" The blonde girl turned her head around to look at him while speaking.

"No need to worry about me, Mr. Komor! But I'm glad anyway!"

"It's ok, then. Make yourself at home!" Bianca nodded at him and waited patiently for Cheren. Her legs wagged and hands trembled as well as the rest of her body when nervousness attacked. She heard footsteps coming from the first floor and they got louder, getting closer. In a few seconds, Cheren's father was back again in the living room.

"Would you mind if I leave now? Well, I need to arrive early at work, you know…" He said, folding some papers flatly to place into his suitcase. "I told Cheren, he must be coming in a few minutes!"

"Of course I don't mind! Please, Mr. Komor, I don't want to disturb! Go and have a nice day!" Bianca helped the man with his stuff as he promptly exited the house.

"Thank you so very much, little miss! We'll meet later!" He waved his hand and strode towards his car. The blonde girl stood at the doorway, a cheerful smile on her face as she waved back. There was a time when all she wanted was to be his daughter-in-law. She chuckled dryly at the memory.

"What are you doing there?" Cheren curiously asked from the top of the stairs.

"Talking to your father!" Bianca answered, closing the door.

"That does add up…" He said, yet half satisfied. "Come here." His gesture led to his bedroom's door.

"WHAT?" The blonde girl bawled in surprise. 'What is he thinking? I have a boyfriend!' She thought.

"Excuse-me?" He turned her way, his eyes lost some width. "Are you mistrusting me?" A dense tension started to rise between them. The blonde girl managed to head off the confrontation by lifting her chin up at him and answering firmly.

"No. You know I would never do such a thing."

"Good. Let's go." Cheren disappeared from the stairs as he plodded to his room. Bianca chuckled at the boy's usual slow heavy gait, it is like the exact opposite of hers. Finally, the girl expelled the air she had been hardly inhaling as the uneasy atmosphere choked her lungs and tapered off the air. Then, she flounced towards his room, emphasizing the differences between their peculiar paces.

Cheren's room is always so tidy, even when he doesn't have time to put it in order. The place doesn't know what a particle of dust is, doesn't have even the smallest stain, rid of the most unnoticeable crease on the smooth surface of his sheets as well as his clothes. It was simply flawless.

And so, here come the contrasts again. Is that why it's the Black and White generation? Bianca couldn't help remembering Touya's room because it was by far the utmost opposite. Yes, totally.

"Your room is so neat, Cheren! I don't want to get in and mess it all up…"

"Come in. I needed to tidy it up anyway… So, I guess there's no problem about that." He sat down on the clean floor with one knee raised, grubbing through his clothes for something formal. "Now, I don't think you missed me and decided to drop by my house for a cup of coffee."

"Isn't your heart made of steel? Oh, boy! Friends do visit each other occasionally!" Bianca spoke unsure on how to proceed as her words came out faltering a bit.

"I don't believe you." Cheren jerked out undeterred by the girl's fragile heart. "I can see you're hiding something from me!"

"Hey, heey! Just cool it, okay?" She looked around the room, trying to find something suitable where she could have a sit. "Actually, I'm here for another reason, not for visiting." The blonde girl gave up and stood in her place. "Well, hmm…"

"You can sit on my bed."

"Oh… Thank you, then…. I didn't want to because you make your bed so… neatly… I didn't want to leave wrinkles in your sheet! I can imagine you tucking these corners underneath the mattress and working your way around the whole bed, being careful not to… "

"Ok, would you please stop with all this ceremony and just have a seat?"

"Alright… I'm sorry…" She said as she sat coyly on the edge of the mattress. "I promise I'll get it all straighten out…"

"You were never this formal around me, Bianca, and you know you don't have to. If it was some mere weeks ago, you would just make a mad dash to leap into my bed without giving me the right to be warned about that! And how many times you did it!"

"…"

"I know you're disturbed about being here just because of Touya. Don't try to deny it, whatever you say it's not going to change my mind!" Cheren was talking to her but his eyes never left the bottom of his drawers.

"Yeah. We used to have long conversations right here in your room but now… it feels strange… like I'm doing hmm… something wrong…."

"You're either apprehensive about someone eavesdropping on our conversation or seeing you here in my house."

"Kind of." Bianca rubbed her legs nervously.

"I know Touya inside out, Bianca! He wouldn't mind it."

"Who knows? Didn't you see how mad he got when you arrived at the Abundant Shrine? Don't you remember what he asked you at the moment? He said 'are you trying to steal my girlfriend?' I'm sure he would really fly off the handle!"

"He often gets irritated when he has no reason to. And when he has, he shows presence of mind. I just can't get it! But let's put him aside for now. Tell me, why are you here?"

"Cheren… yesterday, when you took me home… you said you wanted to talk to me seriously. You told me the same at the Abundant Shrine… Thus I'm here. I woke up this morning thinking about that! So I need you to spill the beans right away!"

Cheren went silent. He focused on folding some chosen clothes flatly and stacking them together in a heap. As soon as he finished, he stood up and carefully took the pile with his forearms underneath for support, placing them on his bed right after.

"Yes, you're right but… We'll have to talk about this later."

"What? Why? Oh no! I don't want to get through another night with so many thoughts racing in my head!"

"I'm sorry Bianca, but I ought to follow my priorities."

"Okey-dokey! But why do you always have to be so rigorous in everything you do?" She sighed and grabbed his long sleeve to pull it annoyingly. "So tell me what your first priority is!"

"Alright but… let me go first!" He gently removed her hand. "By the way, I need your help! You see that pile of clothes?" Cheren pointed at the stuff he just put on the bed, and Bianca nodded in response.

"Yeah but I won't wash your clothes, understood?" The blonde girl crossed her arms, puffing up her cheeks like a Jigglypuff.

"Don't play the fool! Though I have to admit it's a nice idea…"

"No way!"

"It's serious, Bianca… You're a girl, you can help me then. What should I wear on a date?" He asked, sitting beside his friend as she kept staring at him with a blank expression while processing the information. Then, she blinked. "Hello? Earth's calling the flighty-headed girl!"

"I can't believe it!"

"What?"

"I can't believe you're going on a date!"

"Are you surprised? Why? After all, I'm a man."

"Sure, Cheren… I know. Do I know the girl?"

"You do. But I don't know if I really want to tell you who she is."

"All right, then! So I won't help and we'd be going nowhere!" Now Bianca made a childish expression and turned her back to him.

"You won, I'll tell you! But trust me… You won't like it the slightest bit!"

"Nice trick but it's not gonna throw me off the track, Cheren, tell me!" The blonde girl made sure to stare deeply in his eyes and he blushed at the short distance they were. She didn't intend to seduce him, but he thought otherwise as he removed his glasses and revealed those deep blue eyes she always shivers by seeing. Now, he stared back at her firmly and passionately as he fought back the urge to kiss her cherry lips. When he lifted a hand up to cup her face while leaning closer, her unsteady breath was drew in as from shock and she gasped, slapping his hand, which was jerked away instantly.

"I'm sorry…" Cheren whispered, letting his head hang low next to his knees as he stared at the floor. Bianca quickly moved backwards onto the mattress and leaned her back completely against the bed's headboard, withdrawing herself sullenly as she hugged her legs next to her body tightly. Her chest was lifting and then recoiling so fast that it made her unable to speak for some time.

"P-please, Cheren… Never try this again!"

"Alright, I'm sorry."

The blonde girl rested her forehead on her firmly attached thighs and the boy in glasses didn't dare to look anywhere other than his room's lower surface. After some awkward long minutes of dead air, Bianca finally showed she had forgiven him.

"Why don't you talk to me?"

"You clammed up, how was I supposed to know?"

"I'm better now. Let me see your clothes…" She came forward and inspected each one of his clothes, focusing on picking up only those refined ones, so that they would erase some of his nerd-style during the date. Standing up, she spread the chosen ones across the bed's surface while making sure to smooth out any wrinkles in the fabric. "Those will do. What do you think?"

"I'm glad, Bianca. Thank you very much. You're a good hand at matching clothes!" Cheren got up to properly take a full view.

"Oh, you're welcome. In fact, I just matched the clothes you chose before so I guess you have a good taste either." The blonde girl smiled softly at him.

"Not that much…" His X-transcreiver rang and he had to cut short. "Give me a minute." The boy got the device in hands and exited the room. Bianca didn't endeavor to hear the conversation, she would hear it anyway since Cheren stood right next to the doorway, out of his room.

"Hi, Skyla! How's it going?"

"_Hello! Are you ready for tonight?"_

The girl stopped cold. He asked Skyla out? No one noticed it? Millions of questions were running through her head but she managed to answer some of them by herself as she listened forth to them. She even heard where they would meet. A bar in Castelia City. Later, he plodded into the room as Bianca quickly pretended she was too concentrated on getting all creases straighten out in his sheet that she didn't even notice he was there. He cleared his throat to get her attention.

"Are you making my bed?"

"Ta-da! Look at this! I did it perfectly!" She giggled and skipped towards the door. "Hmm… I need to go now. Looks like you're tired of my face…"

"Stop that nonsense. I appreciate your visit."

"I just missed one thing… where's your mom?" Bianca was right at the door, turning around to look at him before going away as she waited for his answer.

"Well, she's in Striaton City visiting a friend for a cup of coffee. It seems today's the visit your friend's day!" Cheren sat again close to his drawers and started to put the discarded clothes back inside them. He laughed under his breath and lifted his head up to her with a chaste smile on his face. She made sure to smile at him purely and coyly, looking at the floor right after.

"If it's not, it'll be from now on. I h-hope you enjoy your date… See ya." The blonde girl left. For some time, the steady ticking sound of the clock on his desk kept the place from sheer stillness.

"You made my day, girl… as always…" Cheren whispered to himself.

(Bianca's POV)

I exited Cheren's house and strolled in town, once it's not big. While moseying along the streets I thought about my life, my friends, my family and, suddenly I was already walking around the lab. It was no surprise at all to see my father talking to one of Professor's Juniper assistants but I decided to go there and greet them, also, I needed to know how Professor Juniper was, because I got worried about her state. As I scooted closer to them, I realized how distressed my father was and I started to get nervous as well, what if something bad happened to Professor? I feared the worst incident ever. As soon as my father noticed me, his face lit and he took some steps closer.

"Who's my little girl?" Dad opened his arms and wrapped them around me. I happily cradled myself into them.

"Me!" I answered as father kissed the top of my head tenderly. "How's Professor Juniper?"

"She's fine, but still asleep…" He stared at me for a while. "Come on, we need to talk." Father took my hand and we walked back to the lab's door, where the assistant was.

"You came just in time! I've been attending to an important matter lately… You know, my dear, we always have to look for work even when we're already employed because sometimes… we're lucky to find some better job, hun!"

"And?" I narrowed my eyes tightly.

"Can't you see, darling? I've just got a new job! And it's way better than my last one! Your mother is delighted!"

"Really papa? So am I!" I jumped and threw my arms around him, saying that he is my pride. We enjoyed ourselves, knowing that a prospering future is on the way.

"Amazing! So pack everything and we'll be heading to Sinnoh!"

Everything was beautiful and dandy, but then he suddenly dropped a bombshell. I swear when I heard that I lost my ground immediately. More precisely, I didn't even feel my heart beating, didn't feel myself, it was like I wasn't alive. Some weird pressure rose inside my chest and blocked the passage of my words, if they ever were to come out. I was definitely choked up. My warm tears woke me up from the dark, running along my cheeks effortlessly. I still was unable to speak, and lowered my head slightly so that I wouldn't have to look at my father. All I wanted was to forget this. I wanted to be in my bed, sleeping. I pinched myself because I thought I was a nightmare. But it was real.

"B-Bianca? M-my little girl? Why ar…" He reached for my arm but I backed away.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME! YOU'RE ALWAYS RUINING MY LIFE!"

"Oh no, please! You're making my heart bleed, Bianca! I love you, my dear! I just want what's good for you and for our family! Please, understand…"

"It's beyond me, father…" Crying, I moved backwards in a slow pace, all the time facing the ground with eyes shut. "Just leave me alone!" I ran away until I could run no more. I made sure to go somewhere where he wouldn't find me easily. I needed to be alone and cry. Life was down in the dumps.

I went through route one, kicking small rocks, getting scratches from the sharp branches of the trees and struggling to withstand the lack of air in my lungs. That's when I saw the little lake where I used to play with my beloved friends when we were younger. Also, Touya brought me here and asked if I wanted to be his girlfriend. I approached its calm and relaxing water, sitting on my heels as I finally breathed properly.

For the first time in my life I wouldn't mind being unnoticed.

* * *

><p>Oh, I love you guys! I love the reviews, I'm so happy!<p>

Things are getting tense, but it has to be this way ;)

See ya! XD


	12. Chapter 11

Hello there! This took so long and I can't even believe I really pulled it off! Well, I wanted to explain that I dashed this chapter off somehow and had no time to read it, so it'll be more likely to occur some errors... SORRY!

Bianca's last name means black in french (maybe I left out the 'e'), I forgot to mention that. Finally it's here!

Enjoy!

I do not own Pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 11<strong>

* * *

><p>'Let me see... I'm starving but I won't disturb mom, she obviously slept nothing last night…' Touko moved downstairs, tapping her finger on her lips. 'I ought to cook something for me and N as well…' Nearing the kitchen, her nose detected a delicious smell coming from there, and she found herself moving buoyantly and freely towards its source. 'Mom is up already?' Shuffling into the kitchen, she figured out it wasn't her mother.<p>

"N?"

"Yes, me?"

"… You can… cook?"

The young man laughed as he threw the pancake upwards in order to flip it and get the other side on the greased surface so that it would fry both sides correctly.

"How did you know? I adore pancakes with maple syrup!" She sat down amazed, letting his skills knock her socks off on and on. "N… you're unbelievable! You're a… a genius!"

"Watch out! Hot frying pan is on the way!" N warned and Touko budged up for him to stack one more pancake on the plate.

"N, I'm serious! You read my diary while I was bathing? How did you know I loved this…" She licked her upper lip while tucking into the food.

"No. I hate prying into others' privacy. In fact, I assumed you liked it because millions of people around the world do, hence it's enjoyed by so many cultures around the world. It's truly universal. That was my simple assumption."

The brunette felt like she was the worst creature who has ever lived.

"I'm sorry… I should've thought about it before putting you under suspicion..."

"I'm in the clear now and this is all that matters!" N pushed lightly the plate towards Touko. "Here. They're all yours!"

"Hey, no! No fair! What about you? I'm sure you worked so hard on them…" She slid it back to the middle of the table.

"No sweat. Don't be stubborn and take them while they're still hot from the pan. I'll be alright powdering the fruits with oatmeal. You know, high-glycemic foods like maple syrup or cornflakes are bad not for the waistline only, but also for the heart. We must stay healthy."

"Oh… fine. Is that why you wanted to learn cooking?" She asked, wolfing down the pancakes.

"Yeah hmm… Actually, cooking has lots of physics, chemistry and math's principles behind it. Physics is the science of matter and energy, also focusing on the interaction between the two. Mechanisms, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, solid-state physics, particles, properties… Everything has to do with it! Look, I melted the butter in a microwave-safe bowl before adding it to the mix. What do you think about this?"

"mnnhmnnh…"

"I didn't get it."

"Wait…mmnmhmm…" Touko munched the food and washed it down with some milk. "Ahh… It's so trivial, N… everybody does something like that in their kitchens all the time!"

"I'm afraid you've got the wrong end of the stick, it's not that trivial, Touko… If I used the microwave oven to melt the butter, I used dielectric heating to heat the food with microwave radiation, creating a molecular friction that consequently will make the particles disperse and, if it's in a solid-state it'll melt, turning into liquid which has the property of relatively high incompressibility. However, I don't like to use it often because this molecular fiction can also destroy the fragile molecules of vitamins and phytonutrients…"

"Do you want me to sleep here?"

"No, no! I was about to reveal the most interesting part of this… did you know that this incredible phenomenon of microwaves' heating effect was accidentally discovered? It was in nineteen forty-five, an engineer named Percy Lebaron Spencer… "

"No N, please, that's enough for today! Well… you can tell me a little bit more about it next month, right? Better off, next year!"

"What?"

"I understood your point of view, okay? That's enough for me and for you. Now, eat up! Mom will be coming soon."

"Oh, no!" N ate his meal as fast as his manner of speaking. He wasn't ready for Mrs. White yet. Touko laughed at his desperation.

"Slow down right off, N! Food can choke you!" She told sense to his ears, the corners of her mouth were pulled down in a subtle frown.

"I can't help it, Touko… I'm not all set for m-meeting your mother yet…"

"Then lock and load because we're kind of… living together now!" A light pink blush spread upon her cheeks and she looked down. 'Living together… this sounds so… married for life…' She felt her face heating in tingling flames, realizing that it had aggravated into a crimson red as she lowered her head even more to let her dark brown locks cover her foolish embarrassment.

"I'm full!" N stood up and removed all the tableware they used for breakfast. "I'll wash up the dishes."

"You don't have to. Just use the automatic dishwasher! Noddy work to it, donkey work to you. Which one is better?"

"You're right. I'll place them in the dishwasher!" The green haired man scratched the back of his head.

"Smart guy! Don't forget to scrape off as much surface food as possible! If in doubt, check the manual, ok? I'll go see mom… I'm still worried."

"Don't you really have any idea why she was crying?" N murmured his question while loading plates and glasses in the machine.

"I think I don't know. She's been acting so strange lately… and that's what most worries me because sometimes she cries when she's missing me or father, but I'm home now and she never had a breakdown before about his death… In fact, it's always been the opposite, she often has to bring me solace in my time of sorrow. I'd go and cry my heart out whenever I remember him." The girl strove hard to restrain a gush of tears.

"Touko…" N searched for something inside his head, something he needed to do or say. Getting to remember what's written in a book he read a short time ago in order to know a little bit more about how to act around people really makes his toes curl. He sighed in frustration. Why is it so hard to deal with humans? When it comes to Pokemon it's way different. They're comprehensible thus he's totally in sympathy with them. In Shauntal's book, she says that men MUST treat women kindly, also describing how they should act in different situations. N didn't read the whole book, but he managed to learn a lot from it so far. "I need to finish reading that book!"

"What?" The girl blubbered out, her aquatic blue eyes resembling the ocean's deep clear water.

"No I… was only wondering what I'm to do to comfort you… but I still need to brush up on human relationship." He shrugged. "Look! How fast! Now I just have to dry them off!"

"Come on out of your shell, N! You don't need to be shy about anything. Do act naturally, instinctively, and you'll learn how to perform perfectly around humans! Need no handbook for this."

"I happen to feel more confident when I'm following the instructions I read in the book."

"Oh, Arceus! Shauntal's book again?" She widened her eyes. In the past few days, they've known each other better and he has done some kind of things that no one would ever expect – Like giving her flowers, hugs and even kisses on the forehead – All thanks to that magic book. He even said 'don't you ever hide your beautiful face, especially… from me' once. "So… did you read anything about giving flowers to girls as a gift? I've been given flowers before but… those will never stack up against yours! I mean… the situations…" Touko got crimson colored cheeks for the second time that morning.

"Yeah, she explains that flowers can boost one's mood and… will people to smile. I like watching you smiling because… it always feels like the first time I get happy when I see a human smiling once I could only enjoy Pokemon's smiles before… then, when I saw that flower I remembered it and got it for you!"

Touko couldn't believe his sweetness. Her mouth hung open while she unconsciously was trying to catch up on her breath. On the third time her cheeks flushed she decided to leave the place to get a grip.

"I'll go see mom…"

"Wait!"

"Hum?"

"Er…" N trailed off. He scratched his head again nervously. "Who gave you f-flowers?" He bumbled as he walked and talked to her.

"Well, hmmm… let me count first…" Accidentally, it went past her lips.

"Count?" The young man raised his brows to draw them together as he almost snarled at her request. She flinched.

"… I had a lot of suitors and they used to give me presents… but I never found one who really swept my feet right off the ground… mommy says that I'm oblivious to love."

An awkward silence butted in their conversation. Even though it had got them in a tight corner, the young couple felt relieved somehow about remaining silent. N rubbed his temples, trying to smooth out the creases in his forehead. Sulking for about a minute, the young King focused on the kitchen's affairs to distract himself. Touko left the kitchen but she stepped in again, she was going ill at ease about his mood swings, rolling her eyes when he was drying the dishes off in a seriously tedious manner. The girl hissed when she noticed he was going to win their little silence-is-gold-contest anyways.

"What the heck is going on, N?" The girl barked, still her voice caught up in some lame whines. He peeked at her quietly and motionless, except for his hands which were working on drying dishes while he neglected her presence.

"N!"

"I'm busy now!"

"Don't you dare to shut me out!"

"Why are you saying this?"

"You're ignoring me!"

"No, I'm not."

"N!" She shouted and he turned completely to her. Sapphire blue and emerald green eyes were locking into one another.

"Lower your voice and we may talk." There was a strong tone of authority in his voice. No wonder why he was chosen to assume the responsibilities of a King. Touko hates to admit it, but she frequently gets horny when he talks like that. She ground her teeth, brushing her lust aside when all she could imagine was his firm masculine voice emitting sounds of ecstasy into her ear.

N was going to botch up her dreams in no time when he added "In a very civilized manner, please."

"What?" She blinked. "You must be kidding! How will I ever abide by your decisions once you show no credibility when it comes to social matters? You probably don't even know what the word civilized means!"

The argumentation's warfare of the bygone days was breaking out again because of a foolish jealousy.

"Yeah, right. Knowing the word's signification by simply reading it in a dictionary doesn't mean you learned it deeply. For that, you also need to know how to act throughout the circumstances and behave properly. So, you know the meaning of the word 'civilized' but you're not able to be it when you need to be. It's sad. Remember that day on the Ferris wheel ride? You acted really unsophisticated and primitive when I told you the truth. Despite your intolerance I remained polite and well-behaved. See the difference?"

"Now how do you think I was supposed to behave in this case? Hmm, Oh I know! I should have kept my mouth shut, nodding at your mistakes and rotten ideals while you were making me sick and sicker as you tried to talk me around to your point of view, rattling your lame speeches on again and again. I'm terribly sorry N, but you absolutely can't tell making justice and behave properly apart." Touko slammed her fist onto the table, gritting teeth even more as her eyes started to water.

"I can see our grievance won't be good for us. And that's why I'm not going to argue with you any further. You're losing control already…"

N got closer causing the girl to haul off as she tightened her clenched fists. He took one step closer, she took one step away from him. And this was how it went.

"Go… GO AWAY!"

The young King's jaw dropped. The way her convulsive paintings contrasted sharply against his breathless figure was as contrasting as black and white.

"Alright then." He passed by her and stopped a few inches away, their backs were turned to each other. "If I go, I shall never come back again. Is that ok for you?"

"…"

"I'll take this as positive."

As he walked away from her, his halting footsteps on the cold floor of the living room were fading. The young girl winced at the flashback of their last battle in the Plasma Castle throne's room. She remembered the black shadow of his silhouette becoming smaller as he reached closer to the white bright light of the sun that flashed through the giant hole Reshiram made in the wall.

All those gloomy sensations she felt that day were washing over her again, but she managed to inhale deeply three times and screamed his name at the top of her lungs.

Faint footsteps stopped before opening the door causing Touko to cry her eyes out as she mentally thanked Arceus he was still there. Her shaky legs urged her to sit and she immediately dropped her head onto the table, covering her face with her arms. Forehead resting on forearms, she said softly and muffled "Please don't…" It was repeated several times.

"Touko?" N asked as he sat down beside her.

"I say uncle, N. I'm sorry…"

"What are you talking about? I was the one who started it, so… I don't blame you for trying to cast me off."

"I didn't try to cast you off!"

"And 'go away' means what?"

"…"

"Exactly. And your silence means consent."

Touko twirled her hair round her finger and disdainfully looked at him yet in a playful manner. N thrust out his lower lip innocently, which made the girl be in stitches. He frowned in confusion, however, he joined her as they laughed until they cried. The muscles of their abdomens were exhausted and sore from the strenuous activity they did. Faces were hurting likewise.

"That was nice but… what's so funny?" N asked while massaging his cheeks.

"Laughing is the best medicine, you know…" She took a long deep breath. "So… friends?"

"Sure."

They went silent again. The young girl playing with her hair and the young King with his fingers.

"Hm… what was all that for? I mean, I was arguing with you over something we didn't even seem to know…" She asked.

"I got really cheesed off with something you said and then I let it all go out of hand. It was my fault…"

"Something I said?"

"Touko… are you really oblivious to love?" N stared at her with his pleading emeralds. They seemed to beg her not to crush something vivid he has inside into powder. She tried to talk but she only stuttered. "Pardon me?" He asked and leaned closer, one hand lifted up to his ear so that he would listen to her better.

The girl contemplated how she would change the subject and bring him around to it.

"Hmm… I hadn't noticed it, but now… something smells really good!" She turned to the oven behind them.

"Ah, cupcakes. Nothing that special."

"Whaaaa?"

"I'm sorry I took over your kitchen without either your or your mother's permission… but I'll make sure to buff it up later!"

"No, it's not that! I just, hmm… wonders will never cease, you know… you've got so many different talents and skills that I can't stop myself from being impressed!"

"I'm glad, Touko, but the cupcakes are just a distraction from the real issues."

"… Real issues… what are they?" Her voice died away as she shifted in the chair.

"…" N sighed. He noticed she wouldn't answer his question so easily. He, on the other hand, was gagging for it. "Are you still oblivious to love?" He headed there directly.

"Cupcakes will burn to ashes…"

"Stop banging on about these cupcakes! Why are you steering clear of my question?"

N really isn't a typical teenager guy. Most boys his age would go to all their friends to brag as they immediately would fathom this out. She was flashing all the dazzling lights before him, but he still was unable to read her signs. Touko zipped up and stared at him with a miserable look in her eyes.

"You don't want to talk about it? The more I talk to you the more you're zoning out…"

"You won't understand…"

"What? Why?"

"N…" She stopped, feeling her heart beating like a bat out of hell.

"Please, be quick on the trigger!"

He had just got her back to the wall, her breath becoming more and more unsteady as the seconds rolled by. Suddenly, her romantic emotions were watered down by some noises they heard coming from upstairs as she felt another kind of feelings welling up.

"MOM! N, stay right here, I'll go check on her!" Touko stood up abruptly, making the chair fall backwards with an unpleasant thud.

"I'll tag along!"

"I told you to stay here!"

"What if it's dangerous up there?"

"Dangerous? It's my home, N, so it doesn't make any sense! Or are talking about monsters underneath the bed? Well, fortunately, unlike you, I don't believe it!"

"I don't believe there are monsters underneath people's bed! I was just thinking about being around if you needed something…"

"If I need something, I'll let you know. For now, I won't saddle you with talking to my mother!"

"Fine. Just rope me in if it's necessary."

"Understood!" Touko said, worried as she cleared off. It was both a comfortable and distressful situation in which she was saved by the bell when she almost had to confess her feelings, but at the same time, she had got her knickers in a twist about her mother.

….

The room was dark, except for some faint lights that made it through the curtain.

Touya is the kind of boy who is able sleep the whole day away if he was just left there to. When he doesn't have important things to do or when his mother isn't home to wake him up, only a miracle can yank him from his beloved bed. Since he's such an energetic teenager, he needs to recharge his batteries somehow.

He snuggled happily under the covers while dreaming. He dreamt he was the Pokemon League Champion and grinned unconsciously.

"Thank you my friends… I love you! You were great!" He had his Pokemon projected on mind as he hugged one of his pillows tenderly, thinking it was his Galvantula. When the boy's X-transcreiver rang, he sat with a brisk motion, trying to latch onto reality and catch up on his breath.

Touya stretched his arm to reach for his device, still breathing audibly. It rang loudly in his hands and he couldn't wait any longer for the volume to tail off. The light brown haired boy sighed when he saw Bianca's name in the small screen. She adores him awakened.

He pressed the button to answer the call, groggy and with an incredible manly voice, sexy and virile. No different from his usual, but in the morning it seems to be aroused. He was ready to put his smile on face, however he was put out when he saw Mr. Noir instead of his girlfriend's delicate frame.

"Good morning, Touya…" The large man was destroyed, not hiding the tension in his voice. "Sorry if I awoke you…"

The boy frowned. In fact, it made his blood run cold. It never happened before and he thought it would never happen. More precisely, he never ever thought about it. He shook like a leaf, fearing that something bad had happened to his girlfriend.

"It's alright, Mr. Noir… w-what's the matter?" The X-transcreveir was trembling in his shaky hands and freezing from cold sweat.

"Touya… p-please… I need you to do me a favor! You're the only one who can help me…" If he could, he would clasp his hands together while pleading.

"Y-Yes?" He narrowed his eyes and gulped.

"I need you to find m-my little girl… at least, I need to know she's safe…"

"WHAT?" Touya jumped out of the bed and stood static in the middle of his room. "What happened? What happened? Tell me before I run up to her!" He rapped out his command.

"Well…" The man scratched his head. "I was at Professor Juniper's lab, I was talking to her new assistant… I hadn't even had the chance to memorize his name yet…" He chuckled but went serious again when Touya's expression darkened even more.

"Skip unnecessary details, please."

"Okay… So, I saw her and she ran to my arms… she's adorable…"

"I know!" He said, messing up his hair impatiently.

"Yeah… and… I told her we needed to talk and then… I told her that I got a new job… a better job!"

"Isn't that great?"

"Yes, it is… I don't know why she didn't like it…"

"Right. What's next?"

"Hmm… I think she just can't put up with the fact that… we're moving to Sinnoh… she cried so forlornly and ran away… and now guilt has gnawed at me... I l-looked for her everywhere, but… nothing! She's not in Town… neither do I know where she went nor what she's gonna do…"

Touya was struck dumb, unable to react. He just blinked a couple times with his mouth hanging open by shock.

"Sinnoh? Give over!" He laughed in disbelief.

"I'm serious, Touya."

"Why did you try to gloss over this situation then?" He hissed, shaking his head in disapproval.

"I didn't. I just think there's no reason for her to…"

"Let's just stop goofing around and keep on looking for her. That's what is in need to be done now."

"Touya please… perk her up for me and… tell I love her so much…"

"Fine."

"Just don't go back on me, ok?"

"Yes, Mr. Noir. I call you as soon as I find her."

"Thank you so very much! I knew I could count on you!"

"You're welcome."

The screen went black only because Touya turned it off. After shambling around his room he bolted into the bathroom and did hygiene. He pulled black sport slacks and a black t-shirt on, throwing a dark blue jacket upon his shoulder as he lit out.

He had only clothes on and left everything else, taking with him only his Pokemon and the keys of his house. He immediately made it to Nuvema's outskirts and tossed a Pokeball in the air. From there, came the eagle-like creature, his loyal Braviary, that glided around him, waiting for his trainer's command.

"I need you to fly above route one and find Bianca for me… we'll leave no stone unturned in looking for her, right?" He patted Braviary's head, smiling hopefully. The Pokemon cried affirmatively and ascended, flapping his wings up there. The blonde girl wouldn't escape those keen eagle eyes.

Anguish rose inside Touya's chest as each second passed. He was struggling not to tear up with every step he took. He screamed her name, looking behind bushes and through the trees.

"Please… where are you, my baby blonde girl…" The boy scanned each area until he was totally sure she wasn't there, moving ahead, looking for her somewhere else within the route limits. The sounds of flapping wings boosted hopes back inside of him. He ran to an open area and waved happily to the bird.

"You found her?"

Again, the eagle-like Pokemon emitted a loud cry causing Touya to grin like a Cheshire cat.

"Well done, buddy! Show me the way!" He followed his Pokemon, sparkling eyes showing he was on cloud nine about finding her. He soon noticed that she was hiding in a very familiar place. 'How could I not know!' The boy spotted her golden hair glistening in sunlight, he was amazed by the sparkling luster. Touya got closer, careful not startle the poor girl. Those dry tears left stains along her face, her lips were dehydrated as she looked away while sitting inert on the grass. Touya sat beside Bianca, copying her actions, except for the way she was sitting – He didn't want to look so… womanish. He stared at the horizon likewise, not saying a single word. When she turned to him, he did the same, looking her way.

"How did you find me?"

"Hmm… let's say that a little bird told me… not so little, though…"

Bianca laughed notwithstanding she was sullenly aloof.

"Braviary, hun? I knew it…"

"I was dying to see your smile. Guess I feel better now!" He stretched his arm sideways across her back and placed his hand on her shoulder, so that she would find support with her back against his arm. He brought her next to him and she rested her head on his shoulder. Her lips started to quiver again as she tried to restrain more tears. "Don't you ever do this again."

"If you're here, then…"

"Yeah, I know. Your father told me everything."

"I don't want to go, Touya… dad is so selfish, he doesn't care about me! He just wants me to live the life he WANTS me to live… and this isn't the life I want… I still have to buckle down and pursue my dream life!"

"Yes, he's a bit difficult, but… he wants the best for you. You'll find your path, just work hard and surround yourself with good friends so that they can help you whenever you need them the most!"

"Good friends? I've got this already! Did father bundle you off to this place just to tell me this?"

"No. He, just like me, had no idea where you were… I'm just trying to ease off this tension between you and your father. Now, my princess… if you're not satisfied then you and your father should talk this over. You can't run away and hide everytime things go belly up. Face the problems and fight for your dreams!"

"…"

"Understood?"

"Yes, yes… you're right." She sighed, giving in. "Thank you for building my confidence up again… That's it! I'm not going! He can't fob his decisions on me!"

"Now we're talking!" He pressed his lips on her forehead, in a loving manner. "You can always do better, just remember this!"

"Hu-hum!"

"But… you also need to obey him since he's your father, you can't change it. Let's go and make him aware of how you feel about leaving."

"No problem, I'll do it." She looked at him and smiled nostalgically. "Do you remember when we were kids and we stole dad's Pokemon for a battle? It was when I got wise to the fact that he wouldn't get any better…" Bianca rolled her eyes and Touya cracked up.

"Good times! I remember his expression when he found out! So funny! He's still a father figure, anyways…"

"Yes, he is… but sometimes…" The blonde girl shook her head. "Everything was so perfect… and… he managed to cock it up!" Bianca buried her face into his chest.

"Don't think about it that way… bury the hatchet instead of burying your head in the sand! I'll call him and say that you're fine."

"NO!"

"Why? You need to talk to him!"

"Not yet…"

"But…"

"Oh, pleeeeeeeeeeease! Pleaase, please, please, please! Please?"

"Cute but I'll be jacking your father around if I don't contact him…"

"Just leave it to me, dear! I don't want to talk to him right now because I have… something else on my mind…"

Bianca started moving her finger in a circular motion against the thin fabric that kept it from touching his bare chest, peeking at him through her long lashes, blinking eyes innocently yet lustfully. The young boy stared at her, only innocently. What seemed as clear as a bell to her was as clear as mud to him, surprisingly. She positioned herself on his lap and turned his head to her. She was starting to live those kinds of things down and opened up.

"I've been chewing on it for some time but now… I t-think I'm ready…"

"For?"

She exhaled the air sharply and frowned.

"For…" She looked down at his lap with a teasing look, lifting her head up to him right after. When he finally got it, he grinned at her as he pulled her closer to his embrace. They shared a hot kiss for a long time, breaking it only to regain some air, forehead on forehead. The young couple smiled, matching breaths and looking deeply into each other's eyes with longing.

"Pretty coquette… are you sure?"

"Of course, darling… The more I think about it, the more I'm lusting after this!"

"… So…"

Touya seemed to be lost, even though he was the one who had experience to lead the activity.

"What's the matter? Don't you want it?"

"It's undeniable I want it in no uncertain terms! It's just… it happened so out of the blue…" He scratched his head, cutely curling one side of his mouth upwards. "Are we going to get it off right here?"

"There's no one around…"

"No, no… That's not the problem… I just… I have no condoms here… I've been keeping one in my wallet for an emergency, just waiting for you to tell me this but… DAMN, I FORGOT IT!" He facepalmed and let his hand move downward heavily. "Oww man, this is lame!"

Bianca's face was so red that anyone would swear that all the blood she had was running to her head.

"Ah…" And then, they both blushed at the situation. "Well… I'm n-not… on my fertile days… my last period w-was… just a few d-days ago, you know…"

"Bianca, Bianca… It's not that simple, my angel… do you want to risk your boyfriend's life? I'll be pushing up the daisies if you get knocked up and your father gets me!"

"Hmm… It never crossed my mind really… becoming pregnant…" Bianca placed her hands on the lower part of her abdomen.

"So, you must always think about it from now on, if we're going to…"

"Don't say the rest…" She was redder than a sweet cherry dipped in some strawberry syrup and that's why she hid her embarrassment behind her hands. The young boy gently took her hands away from her face and placed a soft kiss on her lips as he moved his hands again to hold her large hips.

"You're so special, sweetie… I love your innocence, your kindness… the way you live, the way you love everybody and everything… How you feel the things around you. You bring peace to my heart, you know… Happiness when I'm sad, a smile when I'm about to cry, light when it's dark, confidence when I'm in doubt, truth when everything seems wrong… I'm no good at wording my feelings… well, you see, the more I look the more I feel like losing faith about this world… It seems unable to pull through everything those bad, angry, greedy people have done to it and to each other… to all the beings. And you… you're an angel among those people… I'm lucky I'm in love with you! Now enough with this because I'm getting too mushy already!" He slid his thumb along her cheek and weeded out a teardrop.

"Touya…"

"How long it took for us to realize this? Over ten years?"

"I suppose that's it…"

"We only took this long because you liked Cheren…" He poked fun at his own statement, mocking it with a silly tone.

"Oh, and you never showed interest in me! Instead, you were s-sleeping with that gym leader!"

"Ooooh, come oooon! Don't start this again! Stop dwelling on the past, please! What if I say… do you think I like thinking I'm kissing the same mouth Cheren had already kissed before?"

"In your case it's even worse because you…"

"Stop, stop, stop… we don't want to get hurt now, do we? Let's just continue from where we left off, right before this stupid arguing…"

"Just because I argued you down!"

"You wish! I just think that we'll be slugging it out for hours and we'll never come to an agreement."

Bianca decided to clear away from his lap, and stood up with cheeks puffed up. Touya threw in with her actions, mimicking her again, so he crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks likewise. He knew she couldn't help burst out laughing.

"You're so ridiculous… but I love you!" The blonde girl hugged her boyfriend as she laughed hard.

"Well, was it a compliment?" He chuckled, teasing her in his usual manner.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"I know, I know! I love you too, but you're still too naïve not to know that this handsome boy here enjoys a good joke!"

"Yeah, your smug look tells me everything!"

"Hmm, alright. Let's just slope off and…" He raised his brows twice in a suggestive manner.

"Y-Yes, b-but… where are we g-going?"

"My home! There's no one there! But I still need to…" He toyed at his next words "…buy a lot of condoms before!"

"A LOT?" Bianca's face flushed intensively. "T-Touya, I-I don't know if I'll be able to…"

"Nah, don't worry! We don't need to use 'em all today, right?"

"R-Right…"

They went back to Nuvema, holding hands. Their puppy love was ready to grow up that morning.

….

"MOM, YOU CAN'T GET INTO THE KITCHEN NOW!"

"And why?"

"B-BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO GET SOME REST! SO GO BACK TO BED!"

"I'm the one who gives orders here, Touko! And you are the one supposed to obey, not the opposite.

"YES, MOMMY, I KNOW! B-BUT I LEFT A HUGE MESS IN THE KITCHEN AND I DON'T W-WANT YOU TO SEE IT AND G-GET UPSET…"

"I won't since I know that you're a good girl who obeys me and will tidy it all up in a second."

"PLEEEEASE, I'M BEGGING YOU! I'D DO ANYTHING!"

"What's the matter, Touko? I'm not gonna go hopping mad just because of a silly mess in my kitchen!"

"I-I… Err… Ow Arceus! THERE'S A LARGE GALVANTULA THERE! REALLY LAAAARGE!" Touko knew her mother kind of disliked bugs.

"WHAT? What is that bug doing there?"

"Errnn… It's… Touya's pokemon! He asked me to keep it for a while…" No need to say she was lying.

"Touya…" Mrs. White stopped halfway, a few more steps to get down the stairs completely. "So… no problem if it's his!" Then, she moved on.

"WHAAAAAT? HOOOW COME NO PROBLEM?"

"You're strange today, little lady! Be sure that we'll talk about this later!" Her firm motherly voice got the girl flinched.

"DEAR GALVANTULA, PLEASE HIDE AWAY BECAUSE MRS. WHITE IS COMING YOUR WAY!" The girl shouted so that N would hear her. 'I just hope he'll get the picture!'

Inhaling deeply and exhaling sharply, she shut her eyes tightly and crossed her fingers.

"It'll be okay, Touko… don't worry!" The young girl whispered.

They heard some loud sounds coming from the kitchen, as if the roof had just caved in. But nothing that alarming.

"OH, MY GOODNESS! WHAT WAS THAT?"

"I'LL HANDLE THIS MYSELF, MOM! STAY AWAY FROM THE KITCHEN!"

"NO! It may be a thief! Or… MAYBE TEAM PLASMA IS BACK!" Mrs. White backed away with a hand on where her heart is. "Oh, Arceus, no! That would be a nightmare! I'm gonna faint!"

The woman's words scared Touko out of her wits.

"OH NO! MOMMA, P-PLEASE DON'T! TEAM PLASMA IS GONE, I MEAN, FOREVER! NO WAY THEY ARE BACK AND NO WAY T-THEY'RE HERE!" The brunette took her mother by the arm and helped her sitting down on the couch, moving a neglected pillow quickly to fan Mrs. White's face.

"Yes, you're right… no way, really! Pheeew… but what was that?"

"As I said, I'm gonna…"

"No, I'll go!" She got up and moved towards the kitchen while wearing a dreadful glare.

In fact, N was accustomed to evil glares, rejection and loneliness. If Touko's mother decides against his staying, maybe it won't inflict great damage on him. The young girl knew she'll have to explain everything to her mother, no matter if he's going to stay or not, but she just felt like postponing it until… until when? She didn't want to string her mother along, she just wanted to string the situation out as long as she could. But why? What for? Those kinds of questions started to edge up inside her head.

Touko was now determined. She'll go and tell her everything, including the way she feels and how she's decided to go with him if that's the case. No holding back this time.

'I won't bottle out this time!'

Mrs. White got into the kitchen with Touko right behind her. N was removing the cupcakes from the hot oven and stood straight before the woman with the delicious smelling baked goods in hands, placed neatly on a tray.

She blinked. Shifting her gaze between the young man and those gorgeous cupcakes.

"Mom? Are you alright?" Touko waggled her hand before Mrs. White's eyes, but cut no ice.

"Touko…" The woman said, lowering her voice and showing no emotion.

"TOUKO!" N screamed as Touko's mother seemed to push his panic button. He'd be trying anything not to let the woman find him, but now, his last resort was exactly overreact to the incident since all else has failed.

"Wait, just calm down, N!" The young girl placed herself between them and turned to her mother. "Mom… I know I'm not a good girl sometimes but…"

"Is he your boyfriend?" She cut her daughter off.

"Wha?"

"Touko, is he your boyfriend?" Now, asking louder.

"NO, NO! HE'S MY FRIEND! I WAS JUST…"

"You know how to choose good friends!" The woman smiled gently, patting Touko's shoulder. She immediately turned the other way to see N, who was no less surprised. "And you… know how to cook exactly what I've been aching for… I love this!" She didn't faff about as she bogged into the food.

The young brunette felt she was in seventh heaven as relief ran through each cell of her body, giving her an amazing sensation that drew down the tense adrenaline. She raised her hands, mentally thanking everyone and everything for this.

'How was I supposed to know that mom would hit it off with N this way… specially, when I wasn't really expecting a miracle!' The girl thought as she watched her mother and her boyfriend-to-be interacting with each other, even if it's in their own particular way – The woman eating all the cupcakes and the young naïve King getting more and more nervous.

"… Mom… seeing that you liked him got me over the moon, you know… I was afraid that you would frown on the idea and kill me on the spot! But believe me, you won't regret this! N is a good guy even though he was once the King of Team Plasma…"

"WAIT… H-HE'S THE… OH ARCEUS I TOTALLY FORGOT IT! I KNOW NOW WHY YOU WERE LOOKING SO FAMILIAR!" She did a double take when she remembered who N was before recognizing him completely.

"Tell her, N! Tell her you have changed!"

"Y-Yes, I-I chan…"

"Fine, fine! Save your words, your highness. You can stay."

Touko and N were on pins and needles before the woman's consent, but her nonchalant approval also got them as stiff as a board. Losing contact to reality, N dropped the tray and the nasty noise it emitted was piercing and loud enough to awake even a Snorlax from a deep slumber. After the inconvenient sound, there were inconvenient cupcakes scattered everywhere on the kitchen's floor.

"NO, MY CUPCAKES, MY KITCHEN, MY ARCEUS!" The woman almost tore her hair out.

"I-I'm sorry ma'am, I'll clea…"

"TOUKO, CLEAN THIS MESS RIGHT AWAY!"

"Why me?" The young brunette whined.

"Don't answer back to your mother just do it!"

"I'm not answering back, mom, I just want to know…"

"It's ok, I dropped it so I'm the one who's gonna clean this!" N said gently as he came back with a broom.

"No, no, no, young King! Excuse-me." Mrs. White stretched one arm out, as if a sign for him to hand over the broom. As soon as she took it, she gave it to the young girl, who got it reluctantly.

"Shine up to me, my dear!" The woman slipped out, making everybody even more confused.

"What's with her?"

"I don't know. The mother is yours, not mine…"

"N!"

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"… No."

"Hm-hum, as always."

"You're absurd!"

"Why are you slagging me off so often today?"

"Just let me be, N, I don't want to quarrel with you again!"

"Neither do I."

"Naff off now!" Touko ignored him as she started to sweep the floor with violence and huffing impatiently. While cleaning the kitchen she moved backwards with the broom in hands, almost strangling the poor object. It was like she was unstoppable until her back bumped into N's stomach.

"Touko…"

"I thought you were gone."

"Just give me this…" N slid his fingers along her arm, as if tantalizing, still he didn't intend to since he lacks this specific kind of knowledge. Touko felt like she was being electrified, but in a pleasant way which conjured up feelings she's never felt before. She closed her eyes to give some special attention to the sense of touch, trying to erase the other senses as she started to breathe a little bit heavier. Slacking her firm grasp off, she released the broom and it keeled over immediately causing the young King to struggle to reach for it. That situation could only end up with them falling as well, much similar to how the broom did a while before. It could be sensual, if it wasn't comic.

Touko found herself underneath N, she was totally dominated and didn't have strength to push him away as they were looking babies in the eyes. His warm breath against her lips were urging them on meet his untouched mouth in the most long-awaited kiss ever.

"N…"

She ran her index finger on his lower lip, making the young man shiver.

"I don't know why you're doing this but… it feels good!"

"If you think this is good I can show you… Oh, my! What am I saying?"

"I don't know, but I like it!"

They laughed, he felt her stomach rubbing his.

"Touko… why people kiss each other's mouth?"

Blue eyes widened.

"W-Why are you asking me this? Oh, I know… that book! Didn't it provide you the answer?"

"This was exactly in the chapter where I stopped reading…"

"Oh, right… I'll buy you this book! You'd better learn this from Shauntal…"

"Learn kissing?"

"What?"

"Yes, kissing."

"That wasn't what you asked me!"

"The book can provide me the theory, but I want to put it into practice!"

"R-Really?" Touko's cheeks colored up again.

"But I can't help thinking… why people like to share their bacteria and oral germs, you know that microorganisms multiply very fast on the protein-rich areas of the tongue, and then, they use the saliva as a vehicle to reach other areas…"

"PIPE DOWN, N!"

Now their "moment" went to rack and ruin with N's gratuitous consideration. But that's it, l_ove means never having to say you're sorry_.

"Touko, have you seen my… WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?"

Mrs. White now wouldn't let them get away with it.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Long and boring, I'm sorry guys! I need to get things moving on, so next chapter it'll be better!

So Tumbleweed, YES! I'm like a dog with two tails after reading your review! Thank you so very much! And of course I'll do my best to write the best of the best for you, guys!

Cheren x Skyla? Let's see what will happen next chapter! ;)

Thank you! Love, love, love!


	13. Chapter 12

Hi there, my friends! I missed you! I'm sorry for this, I took so much time with this chapter... But I really need to do my best!

So, sorry, sorry, sorry!

Now, hope you'll enjoy!

I own NOTHING!

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 12<strong>

* * *

><p>Mrs. White was standing tall before the couple and they, on the other hand, were sitting on the couch in the living room, letting their heads hang low out of embarrassment.<p>

"Now, I'm very curious to know what was happening in my kitchen and unfortunately, I can't wait on you to spill it whenever you feel like!"

Touko knew she needed a quick fix for the moment, even if it was just to distract the woman while she was trying to come up with a plausible excuse. It was like anything she said would go down like a cup of cold sick. Also, they didn't have time to put their heads together and think about a justification for that awkward scene.

However, she wasn't at her wits' end because she had a card up her sleeve, ready to be put to use. That light bulb moment would help them to get a plan to come off.

It's known that N has a lot of skills, and one of them was… exactly what she needed. The brunette would ask him to explain it to the woman once she knows that he speaks very fast, and sometimes people can't even seem to make it out. And when he gets nervous, he really talks nineteen to the dozen.

"Touko! Don't even try to spin me a yarn because truth will out! I know you're not only friends!"

"Mom, H-E I-S O-N-L-Y A F-R-I-E-N-D! And just because we're hand in glove it doesn't mean we are an item, does it?"

"…" Mrs. White loosened her tightly crossed arms a bit, but narrowed her eyes threateningly. "And just because you're hand in glove you don't literally need to be so physically close to your said alter ego!"

"Isn't this simple? We were like that because we cannot possibly conceive two bodies occupying the same place… we just fell to the ground when I tried to take the broom from her… " N was talking a mile a minute as he started to base his explanations on some laws of physics. The woman gaped at his dense intelligence, almost forgetting the reason why she was there, talking with them. The young girl smiled victoriously at her mother's reaction, noticing that he was doing exactly what she wanted him to do. Even though it seems boring to watch the young King talking about what he likes the most, it's still beautiful, and got the woman amazed, as if hypnotized.

"His intellectual speech is poetry in motion! Seeing is believing but I still can't believe my eyes!" She covered her parted lips with one hand.

Touko was aware that his smartness was a bit of a nine-day wonder for those who are not so acquainted with him, and thereafter, people are going to get used to this, just like she already did.

The young girl's expression had a delighted smile at first, but it went to an impatient frown as time passed with N talking a blue streak.

"Pull the reins, N, you've been talking for years!"

"What?" He looked around and at himself. "No way has it been years, Touko! Everything's just the same!"

The young brunette rolled her eyes as she imagined a table to hit her head against after hearing his unbelievable reply.

"Yeah, yeah… you're a smart yet stupid man, N!"

"TOUKO! Do apologize now!" Mrs. White, surprisingly, was ready to always protect N from her daughter's assaults.

"I won't!"

"I'M LACKING PATIENCE TODAY! Do you really wanna go ahead and temp providence?"

Huffing, she obeyed yet with a querulous voice. "Sorry."

"Good. Now, enough with this bad mood."

"That's too much!" The young brunette stood up and made her way to her room. "If you're so impressed, why don't you adopt him? He's an orphan!"

"Oh, really?" The woman blinked and turned to the now silent young man in her living room. "What happened to your parents?" She sat beside him and stroked his back tenderly.

"He was born into a rich family, mom! His mother passed away and his father… well… let's say he has no father!" Ghetsis' image in her head just made her angrier as she stormed off.

Mrs. White got a woeful expression after hearing a little bit of his sad story. N was quiet while looking the house over. Startled, he leaped up when Touko slammed the door of her bedroom shut, but went static again. The gentle woman looked towards the place from where that loud sound came and grimaced.

"What's that? She's impossible today! But later I'll get her! She's totally in a fix now!"

"Please, Mrs. Touko's mother… don't hurt her!" He kept staring at the cold white floor, eyes shining with a contradictory gloomy radiance. "I don't like threats… when parents want to show authority by declaring the intention of inflicting harm to their children… it's so wrong! They're not our owners and we're not mere objects…"

"…"

"I thought I was born to protect Pokemon and change the world. All the time, propelled by the need to avenge my friends… I grew up with them, the only friends I've ever had. They were abused, injured, and some of them…" A teardrop left a little wet stain in his beige colored slacks. "Got to die right here in my arms…" He breathed deeply. "I'll tell you a little bit about me. I used to live in a huge castle. It was fancy, of superior grade and exorbitant but I still felt like something was missing. Since the very first day I became aware of the world that surrounded me, I felt empty and hollow, even though people kept saying that I had everything. Team Plasma – they brought me up. More precisely, two Plasma Goddesses did it. I owe them so much, not only because they gave me some education, but because they've always treated me kindly, like a child who needed special attention and care. I miss them, but I'm still confused… I don't know if they really betrayed me along with Ghetsis and the others… everybody hid the truth from me! It's so strange when you think you're doing the right thing, you're full of convictions, determined and will stop at nothing to achieve your goals but then… the next second you find out you've been deceived and everyone rejects you! You're now the most despicable person in this whole world. And those who used to treat you as a King, are now staring at you with a deplorable pitiful gaze, saying 'how pathetic'."

"I'm so sorry, N…" She lifted the fabric of her silky shirt up to her face and wiped the tears. "You can always count on us. On me and Touko, right?"

"Thank you very much, Mrs. Your daughter is now as special to me as my Pokemon friends. She's got an exceptional place in my life because she was there for me. I don't know how to explain…" He chuckled softly and scratched his head.

"Oh, oh… I see! A new candidate for my little girl's heart!"

"Hm? Pardon me?"

"She denies it, but… I think you're her boyfriend! Or that's exactly what she wants you to be!"

"I always get so baffled when it comes to this boyfriend stuff!"

"Why?"

"She says that I'm her friend, and then when people say it, she denies… your daughter is complicated!" He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.

Mrs. White cracked up causing the young man to stare at her perplexedly.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, dear! Life is just a bowl of cherries, you know…"

He hummed, agreeing to her point of view and _quiet settled in the room like snow._ N got himself distracted by a photograph, for which he gave the once-over.

"She makes me smile…"

Mrs. White widened her eyes at him and was all ears to hear what else he had to say. The woman was on the edge of her seat but waited patiently for him to proceed as she directed her gaze to where he was fixing his.

"The first human friend I've ever got!"

"I'm glad to know that Touko has accepted someone like you, fighting an uphill battle just to give you some support…"

"Yes. It was nearly like I was homeless and she gave me a shelter… wait! This is real! I am homeless and she gave me a shelter!" He lightly slapped his forehead.

"Don't do it, N! It may hurt!" She giggled, getting up and moving towards him to gently hold his hand in place so that it would avoid further harm. "Now, look at me!" Slowly, the young man lifted his head. "Welcome to your new house, dear! I know it's far cry from your fancy castle, but… I'm sure you'll be safe here and will find that family love you've never had! But for this, I want you to do something for me, hun?"

"Yes?"

"Cozy up!" She smiled and patted his soft green mane, willing him to cry in happiness.

"Thank you! I swear I'll endeavor to be worthy of it!"

"Don't worry about it, okay! Now, I know that you understood the rules, so I need to tell you that… in our family rules… we unfortunately ought to show the kids how to behave when they start to go beyond the bounds… and she got me to the end of my tether this morning! So… let me talk to her! I'm her mother so I'm the one who calls the shots but I assure you I won't hurt her, right?"

"Fine…"

"Good boy! I'll be back in a minute!" She spoke sweetly, as if singing. Right after, the woman was going upstairs and didn't seem to be the same affable person N was talking with.

"TOUKO, OPEN THIS DOOR NOW FOR ME AND I'LL COGITATE THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING ON GOOD TERMS WITH YOU!"

The protective young King rushed upwards to rescue his damsel in danger. Knocking on the door with full intolerance, she almost fell into the room when Touko finally opened it unexpectedly.

"What's with all this fuss?" The girl questioned as her mother tried to regain balance.

"No, the question here is why are you so rebel today?"

"I'm not!"

"And there you go again!"

Crossing arms and tapping foot heavily against the floor, she shrugged off her daughter's reaction and kept the inquiring look as N sidled up to her.

"Mom, you're just making a tempest in a teapot! You're exaggerating! But I'll grease the skids for you because I know you're having problems and I was chosen to face the consequences of your bad humor!"

Finally, fighting has given way to a convenient truce as Touko's words hit her like a sharp sword, trespassing too far on her personal and confidential secrets. Tears cropped up in her eyes and she started to breathe faster, unable to speak because of an uncomfortable lump in her throat.

"Mom? Oh, Arceus, Mommy! I didn't mean to… I'm sorry! Sorry!" The girl immediately held her closer and kept apologizing, noticing that it only made her cry even more.

"N HELP ME!"

"What am I supposed to do?" He looked desperate and so did everybody else.

"Bring her some water, please!"

"R-Right…" He bolted out of the room in a split second as Touko stroked, kissed and apologized while helping carefully the woman to sit down on the bed.

"What's wrong, mammy? I hate to see you like this!"

"Don't worry about me, my life… I'm just h-having… some serious problems and I going through it all alone!" Sobbing, she could hardly explain.

"Why alone? I know that father's not physically here with us mom, but you've still got me! I'm here with you so… do not only share good things with me but share also those painful ones! This is what a family is for! You keep on sacrificing yourself just to make me feel things are going wonderfully great, but… you're bleeding on the inside…" The two females started to sob almost in synchrony, making grasps tighter.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

"For?"

"I can't tell you, honey! I can't! Please understand!"

Mrs. White cried even louder, lowering her head as she bore the brunt of the situation and Touko, on the opposite, was left out of her depth after hearing that. She stopped cold, agape and with wide eyes, feeling a single warm tear running effortlessly. What is she hiding? What is happening?

"What can I say in this case, mom?" She shook her head inconsolably.

"I… I'll tell you when it's time, sweetie…"

"I need to know…"

"Time does sail."

"Yeah… It does…"

Seeing her mother's state, the most she could do was to agree with her request without hesitation, not letting the depressed woman waste time prodding her into being patient.

"Thank you! I love you, my everything!"

"I love you too, mom!"

They cuddled, the young girl fondling herself in her mother's arms.

"Here! Here it is!" N handed over the water glass in desperation and Touko noticed the object's weight was quite different from its usual when it's full.

"Geez, N! You spilled the water along the way back to my room!"

"I did?" He turned and looked at the floor, seeing the track of water he left behind. "Ooops…" He blushed in an eternal embarrassment.

They say babies bring happiness to one's home. N was the baby in this case. He made mother and daughter laugh together, forgetting completely that they were dealing with something so mournful and serious.

"Oh, N! Glad you buoyed us up! We're happy again, all thanks to you!" The girl went closer to him and planted a light kiss on his cheek. He got even redder. "And look! Our relationship is on a friendly footing again!"

"Yeah, so… guess I did something nice after all…" Scratching his cheek, he turned the other way. "I'll get something to dry this…"

"Ooooh, no, N! Stay right where you are!" Mrs. White strode to the doorway, closer to the green haired man and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Touko will happily dry this while we'll be having some coffee with some delicious cookies!"

"WAIT! NOT AGAIN… YOU MUST BE KIDDING ME!"

"See, darling… you are duty bound to help your little, hmm… brand new brother! You know… you can't complain because… you were the one who gave me the idea of adoption." The woman blinked tenderly and took N by the arm, out of the room.

"Congratulations Touko! You've made your bed – you'll have to lie in it!" Grunting, she uttered it to herself while looking for a piece of cloth.

….

Daylight was decreasing and the evening meal was to be set on the table.

Spirits were filled with peace after a quiet afternoon nap and the soothing breeze of the sea blowing against the green leaves of the forest made the habitants feel like they were in heaven.

Touko and N were watching TV while they waited for Mrs. White to come back from the market. She left saying that the dinner should be exceptional that night and that's why she'd need to buy all the fixings it takes.

In fact, their dinner was really going to be very special that night.

"Ooooaah… I'm bored… and tired…" She yawned, lying with body and limbs spread out clumsily in contrast to N's elegant and coy posture beside her on the sofa.

"How? You slept away the afternoon!"

"I just slept in this afternoon because I've been doing someone else's work today! That's why I'm so tired!" She made sure to put some sarcasm in her tone.

"And I'm glad for this!"

"Oh, you're welcome!" The girl threw a pillow towards him, as if playing. He chuckled as he promptly got it.

"You'd better be faster if you want to play with me!"

"Give it a rest, N!"

"You're lazy!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"It's just… out of fatigue!"

"Alright, then. I guess I'll play a DS game on your computer!"

"So good luck! I can't make that emulator run smoother!"

"So, I'll help you to find a way out!"

"Yeah, yeah… we're doing this after dinner, right? Mom will be here in no time!"

"Right!" He thought silently for a moment. "Let's go for a saunter around the town later! We'll bliss out for sure!"

"No way! Nothing's really gonna make me leave this comfort!" Folding arms behind her head and leaning against the back of the sofa, she opened one eye and added "Just want to veg out tonight, N! I'm sorry but if you get to see me out of my house today… I'll pick up your housework for a month, ha! Now, I just want peace and silence…"

Touko turned the TV off and relaxed, breathing deeply and snuggling among pillows. "Wake me up when mommy dishes up dinner! Oh, I'm totally in my element her…"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door opened widely and ploughed into the wall, spoiling the quiet scenery she built for her quick rest.

"WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN…"

Touko and N immediately turned their attention to the front door, where Touya was belting out some famous classic song. Needless to say they had a sweatdrop floating above the hair.

"Who the hell let this door unlocked?" The blue eyed girl said dryly, hiding her face with one hand and turning her head away because of the intense wave of shame washing over her. Enjoying her annoyance, the frolicsome singer went ahead.

"Can't keep his mind on nothin' else,

He'd trade the world for the good thing he's found."

And then, he bore down on them, getting closer to the displeased girl.

"If she is baaaad, he can't see it"

He pointed at her and at the young King to suggest that Touko is no good girl. N laughed, entertained, and nodded to bear out. Disturbed, the girl slapped his arm.

"N! Don't listen to him, he's a jerk!" She spat out and he nodded at her, rubbing his arm.

"See! You slapped him, bad girl! Still, he does exactly what you say! I AM RIGHT!" Touya spun and went back to the doorway, where Bianca was standing, ashamed yet admired. He knelt before her with one knee raised and opened his arms as he continued to sing.

"She can do no wrong"

And he got up and took her hand, leading her into the living room, closer to the other couple. Touya couldn't help saying "Oh man, that's the best part!" and, looking into her loving green eyes, he proceeded.

"Turn his back on his best friend if he puts her down! Get my drift?" Blinking, he hugged her and she covered her face by pulling her beret down. "This part fits us like a glove! That's totally our song, except for that part when he says she's bad! My girl is an angel!"

All that Touko wanted that moment was that she could just say something obscene to Touya to make him go away in a very "elegant" style and turn in after a delicious dinner. But she spoiled everything and burst out laughing against her will, cursing her name about, kind of, giving it up to him in the end.

"Oooaaah! Look! I made her laugh!" The light-brown haired boy smiled victoriously. "And it was quite easy!"

"I accept… I accept defeat! When you associated that part of the song with Cheren… It was hilarious, really creative!" The brunette seemed unable to stop laughing. "I loved it!"

"What? I didn't get it!" N asked, like a fish out of water.

"Yeah, my mama always says my baby's a genius! I knew you'd eventually admit it! And you, N… don't try to understand her, otherwise… you'll end up in an asylum." The young boy said as he placed two footstools in front of them and sat, patting the other to show the blonde girl where she should sit.

"Hey! This is where I was resting my feet, give it back!" Touko started to kick him, but he just held her and didn't bother to return it.

"I'm not giving it back! Maybe I could have thought it over if you weren't so harsh, hot-headed!"

They started to fight fiercely. Obviously, they wouldn't kill each other, maybe, but the real problem was… who would damp down the tension?

N?

Bianca?

No. In this case, maybe they'll really kill each other. Unless…

"ENOUGH!"

Mrs. White shouted, motherly authority right on the nose.

"I can't really stay away for a second, Touko!" She came down on her daughter for misbehaving badly. "Oh, Touya!" After noticing his presence, her face lit completely. "Please, you and this pretty lady here will stay and have dinner with us!" The woman stroked and kissed each one of them sweetly, giving some special attention to the brown haired boy. "I hope you're hungry because I don't want to see a single little pea left in your plate!"

"Don't worry! I'll definitely eat it up!" The boy licked his lips as he heard Mrs. White's delighted giggles.

"Thank yoooou!" Bianca clapped happily.

"Oh, great…" Touko rolled her eyes and breathed properly, exhaling the air loudly. Then, she noticed that Bianca was silent and totally red, pressing the tip of her index finger against the other. It was the kind of suspicious behavior that would make anyone curious when it gives off a different air of personality. As Touya tried to strike up a conversation with N, helping him to shoot the breeze and open up a bit more, she realized that the more he spoke, the more she shivered and went weak at the knees. This observation plus the fact that she was red all the time got the brunette to put two and two together.

'A-ha!' She thought, and she wouldn't let it on hold. "Bianca!" Standing up, she moved towards the stairs. "Let's gab a little bit in my room!"

"What's the matter, Touko?" Touya teasingly asked on behalf of Bianca.

"You know… girl's stuff! Nothing to crow about!" She answered.

"Yup! I'm on my way, Touko-Chan!" The blonde girl skipped towards her girlfriend, and was taken by the arm, as the brunette walked her to the room. Then, the two males heard the door close up there.

"Do you know what's going on? I don't know beans about it!" N pouted, confused.

"Good you're asking this because… I know what kind of subject they are going to kick about and I'm gonna share a little bit of my knowledge with you, though, I won't teach you everything because… I'll teach you the theory only and then… you can practice with Touko, understood?"

"Yes." N seemed very interest in Touya's explanations and was nipping at the bit.

"This is gonna be fun! Now, for our first lesson…"

….

"I CAAAAAAAAAAAAAN'T BELIEVE IT! You gotta be telling me a tall story!"

"I'm serious, I'm serious!"

"Oh, nooo! Really? When?"

"This morning… and also… the earlier part of the afternoon…"

"Wooooow! That's too much time, don't you think!" Touko jumped onto the mattress, hugging a pillow tightly. She immediately stopped and became all red before asking "How do you feel about it?"

"Honestly… I feel on the top of the world! Well, at first it kinda bothered me, but… he was awesome!"

"Ohh my! My! Stop horsing around!"

"I'm dead serious, Toukooo!"

"Ok, I know, I know… It's hard for me to believe because I remember when I was the new kid on the block, when I had just moved with my mother… I met you guys, you were so little! We grew up, played and had so much fun together being just kids… well, I have to say that Cheren wasn't with us sometimes because he was really a latchkey child, but sometimes we managed to drive him out of his home! Bad kids!"

"On, no! We weren't bad, we did it because we wanted him to have a social life!"

"Yeah, I guess…" She massaged her cheeks after falling about, as they remembered the old times. "That's it, Bianca… understand why I'm surprised? You're my childhood friends! And now, with this, I realized we're not kids anymore, and how time flies… I think I have gone off the rails!"

"Beautiful speech! Full of blood and thunder!" The blonde girl placed both hands on her cheeks cutely. "I admit I understand you since I can't believe it myself! It's just happened but… It's a dream, Touko! A dream come true! I'm as happy as a clam!"

"As always!" Touko started rubbing herself and getting agitated about something. "See... hmm… I'd like to ask you something though it's very improper…"

They both squealed in unison with excitement.

"Please tell me that you got it and spare myself the trouble of saying!"

"Well… hmm… I think not…" She smiled shyly.

The brunette's smile faded immediately and a frown took place. She blushed as she stuttered "W-Well, hmm… I-It h-hurt?"

Bianca got redder than the flame-like crest on Simisear's head.

"… Ahnn… no pain at all… he was so gentle that I felt just a slight discomfort…"

"That's great!"

"TOTALLY!"

"And what exactly got you to finally make this decision? You've been straddling the fence all this time, still indecisive when it comes to Cheren and also… you didn't want your father to find it out! Why did you choose this way so all of a sudden?"

"It really sprang to mind this early morning when I was still in my bed thinking about my life… I realized that I'm so in love with Touya, he's so much more than only a friend! I thought about all the good things he has done to me and how it all started… His magic words, snogging, necking are always there for me to offset the wounds and humiliations I got from loving the wrong person."

"I feel so bad when you talk like that… I don't want to remember it's my fault…"

"Don't say that! Cheren's the only one to blame!"

Whistling past the graveyard, Bianca placed her hand onto Touko's, and gave her a cheerful smile.

"I just… hope that Touya will remain the same… and make you happy for the rest of your life! You deserve it so!"

"Thank you, my dearest friend! For everything!" She smiled sadly after hugging her friend, and felt tears welling up.

"What's wrong?"

"Touko… I haven't told you yet, but… it's tearing at my heart…" Now she was in tears over the situation.

"What? Unburden your mind by telling me what's going on!"

"I… I… rushed things with Touya because… papa wants me to move to Sinnoh with him and mama…" Bianca was now weeping bitterly as Touko's whimpers joined her.

"No… NO! THIS CAN'T BE!"

"Don't cry, please… I don't like seeing you like that… I'll stay! I'll do my best to change his mind, I promise!"

"Does Touya know?"

"Yeah, he does… he egged me on and now I'm feeling better somehow… gained confidence to tell him that I will stay no matter what he wants me to do!"

"Great! Nice to know that Touya has finally done something right!"

"He always does! My sweet caramel!"

"Hmm… The caramel you've savored! So that's how he tastes like!"

"Oooww! He's so… so… delicious!" Bianca moved her legs briskly, as with a flutter kick.

"Alright, though I'm very curious… the rest I don't need to know… I'll leave you with some privacy!"

"I… really wouldn't be able to describe it with all the details… but one day, you'll learn everything with N!"

"EXCUSE-ME?"

The blonde girl laughed as Touko crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at her.

"Very funny, Ms. a laugh a minute…" The brunette said dryly. "I know everything about this already and I'll teach him!"

Silence stopped in.

"…"

"…"

"HHHMMMMMMMMMMM…"

"WHAT? NO! I MEAN, I JUST… I'M NOT SAYING THAT… I DON'T… AAARGHH!"

"HOW CUTE! YOU'RE IN LOVE WITH HIM, TOUKO!"

"You definitely have a screw loose! He's the last person I would fall for in this world!"

"DO CONFESS YOUR FEELINGS!"

"STOP, BIANCA! I DON'T…"

"CONFESS! CONFESS! CONFESS! CONFESS!"

"I WON'T BECAUSE…"

"CONFESS! CONFESS! CONFESS! CONFESS!"

Noticing she'd only be going nowhere in her attempt of explaining, she stopped and eyed the other girl up. The brunette knew she would get tired of it soon.

"You're funny, Touko! That's why I like ya! Hey, hmm… I'm starving…"

"So am I. And I'm not funny!"

"Right, I'll stop yacking on if you tell him tonight!"

"…"

"Pleaaaase… you're sooooo cute together! Everybody thinks this way!"

"Bianca…"

"Tell him! Tell him!"

"…"

"Pleeease, Touko! I'm living a dream with my love and I want you to know how it feels! So don't shillyshally and open your heart! Don't waste another minute! I know you're head over heels in love with him!"

"I…"

"Yeees?"

Touko let a sharp breath out and closed her eyes, chucking away her pride as she opened up.

"I'm in love with him."

Again, a brief silence took up. Just while Bianca was inhaling deeply, so that she would release all the air in the form of a cheerful squeal. And so she did, also hugging her friend with another expected bone-crashing hug.

"BABIES, DINNER'S READY! SO COME HERE AND CHOW DOWN!" Mrs. White shouted from downstairs.

"Finally mommy is serving dinner! And you… now that I know your secret and you know mine, let's just zip our lips and fill our bellies!"

"Well said!"

The girls latched arms as they started to walk, giggling all the time and behaving like they were sharing a secret. When they got downstairs they found their lovers sharing secrets as well and chuckling, which got them utterly puzzled.

The mysterious game of love was starting to come about and none would ever want to quit it.

Then Mrs. White, Touko, N, Touya and Bianca had dinner together, lapping up each other's presence, laughing, talking and making of it a night to remember.

Food was gone and dinner had finished, but the night wasn't over yet.

Well nourished, the four teenagers sat around in the living room, talking leisurely as laziness hit them after eating so much.

"Ooh, man! That was delicious!" Touya said, stretching arms and legs while snuggling down in the comfortable seat. "Why don't we have some fun hanging out tonight, hun? Let's paint the town red!"

"No way, Sr.! I'll only drink some milk and run to bed! That's how my day will end today!" Touko replied, feeling muzzy.

"You're such a good-for-nothing girl!" The young boy snorted his disapproval, which made the girl thrust out her tongue at him.

"You're ridiculous!" She answered.

"I'd like to have some fun tonight!" Bianca chipped in, ignoring the arising foolish arguing between her friends.

"So take your boyfriend and have some fun apart from everybody else, in a very private place!" The brunette teased and she blushed hard.

Touya grinned brightly and raised one brow at N, as if suggesting something. The young man grinned back with no sight of naivety.

"Touko, I'd like hanging out with your friends tonight if you don't mind… however, you still can change my mind if you… put forward something better for my consideration…" N held his chin between his thumb and forefinger, looking mischievously at the young girl.

"WHA?"

"You're going great guns, N! Keep it up!" He encouraged the other man to proceed.

"TOUYA! WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"Nothing… I'll just say that you can thank me later…"

"TOUYA!"

"Don't go spare on him, Touko! He did no wrong! We're friends now!" The young King tried to damp down her anger, and it worked since she quietened down, still mad red at his previous comment.

"Let it be, N! She's probably on the rag, it's not her fault!" The boy added and silence fell in the room.

Bianca was the one who most wanted to have a ball with her friends that day, because she knew that her plan was very likely to go by the boards, hence she'd have to move to Sinnoh and eventually live without her friends.

"Come on! The world is our oyster! I don't want to stay in and spend time slobbing around at home! Oww… Even Cheren's got something nice to do this night!" The blonde girl enthused, at what seemed to be the last gasp. If it was to fail, then so be it.

"Wait, wait, wait… you said… Cheren?" Touya gestured for her to wait till he fully process the information.

"Cheren?" Touko asked, skeptical as well.

"Y-Yes." She stammered as gazes came to bear on her.

"It beats me! How did you know? What he's gonna do? Tell me!" The other young girl jumped as she awaited the response.

"W-Well, hmm… I went by his house this morning…"

"Hold on!" Touya drew his eyebrows together. "What were you doing there?"

"I was just paying him a short visit, nothing else!"

"That's not the right answer!"

"Don't be so jealous, Touya! Cheren's still our friend and we'll always visit him whenever we want to! So, back off! She's not a hooker, you know it better than anyone else!"

"Hold your tongue, poison ivy! Of course this dirtiness didn't even cross my mind! NEVER!"

"Stop this foolish attitude! Please do continue, Bianca."

He clammed up and turned his head away, huffing.

"As I was saying, I went to see him this morning and we chatted a bit…" She paused when she saw her boyfriend rolling his eyes.

"Just ignore him." Touko said sharply.

"… He then, received a call on his X-transcreiver… and I heard all the conversation… not that I was prying into his affairs, but it simply happened… that's when I knew that he was going to take this girl on a date…"

"NO WAY! C-CHEREN'S ON A DATE! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!" In the next second, the brown haired boy was rolling in the aisles.

"CHEREN? NOW I WON'T MISS THE BOAT! WE CAN'T LOSE THIS GOLD OPPORTUNITY! OH MY! CHEREN'S ON A DATE!" Touko fell from the couch as she laughed intensely, next to Touya, who was punching the floor by cracking up.

"That's a good opportunity for me to understand how a date works…" N snapped his fingers together.

"That's right, N! You'll be learning from teacher Cheren Komor exactly what you CAN'T do on a date!"

"Oh, stop Touya! I'm all sore from laughing, so don't make me laugh more!" The brunette slapped him weakly.

"SO… WE'RE GOING OUT TONIGHT?" Bianca asked, green eyes sparkling in excitement.

"SURE THING!" They shouted in unison.

"COOOOOOOL!" The blonde girl flounced around the room, victoriously.

"Wait! We're not considering something very crucial… we don't know where he's going…" N spoiled all the animation as he tagged on his reasonable comment.

"Ohh, man!" Touya slapped his face. "In this case our scheme goes down the Swanee…"

"No, no! They'll meet in Castelia City and I also heard about a Bar…"

"Yeah, Bianca… It still doesn't help us so much… Castelia is the largest City in this Region! If we don't know exactly which one was the Bar he was talking about we'll get lost in the City while we look for it!" Touko explained, letting the opportunity escape.

"Knowing Cheren… He'd probably go to the _Café Sonata_, that small café located on the right side of Narrow Street. I've been there a few times and noticed that it's quite relaxing! People go there to wind down after a tiring busy day of work… there are musicians playing guitars and we can listen to its soft melody. If you're going there for the first time, the manager will give you some lemonade for free!" The young boy grinned as he walked to the door, sliding hands into his pockets. "I'll get the car to give you a ride to Castelia. Wait for me, I'll drive up in a few minutes!" He nipped off to get the car at his house.

"Car? Why don't we fly?" Touko wondered at the sudden change in the travelling style.

"I'm sure he acknowledged this to the best alternative since our Pokemon friends are still tired from that exhausting battle." N cleared things up to her.

"Yeah… that makes sense… they really deserve some rest!" The brunette agreed to the suggestion and moved towards the front door to join Bianca as she waited for her boyfriend to arrive and get them.

"Come here, N! We don't want to be late, do we? Oh, wait! I'll go talk to mom and also get something for us to disguise!" She called him and stepped into the house to tell her mother where they were going and get the stuff in her room.

When it was settled and everything ready, they heard Touya arriving in the car because he used the automobile horn to make them aware of his presence.

"Hop in the car!" He lowered one of the electric windows by pressing the button and invited them in.

They got into and when all the doors were slammed shut, Touya drove off.

"So Touko… remember you said_ 'I'll only drink some milk and run to bed! That's how my day will end today!' _What happened?" The boy chuckled, as he drove with one hand steering, and the other on his girlfriend's thigh.

"Shut up and drive!" The girl answered from the rear part of the car, sitting beside N.

"By the way… you'll do my housework for a month, Touko!" N whispered at her ear, placing his arm across her back to bring her closer. She looked at him, unable to talk.

Touya adjusted the rearview mirror, so that he could see them better. He smiled happily, knowing that he clearly explained a lot of things to N and also that Touko would finally give in, it was just a matter of time.

"Belt up, passengers! We've got a long trip ahead!" That's was his advice.

….

**Castelia City – **_**Hiun City**_

"_A City of Grandeur"_

_A big city with skyscrapers piercing the clouds._

**7:30 pm.**

He arrived early in the City to mosey over to _the Central Plaza_, walk along the _Mode Street_ to watch how the famous _Casteliacone_ sells out quickly and how long and crowded is the line where people stand eagerly waiting for the delicacy.

He had an appointment at 8 o'clock, and being late was totally against his principles so he decided to arrive a few hours before, not to risk his good reputation, a spotless reputation for courtesy.

At _the Ocean Side_ he visited one of its five piers, the one called _Cruise Dock_, where the _Royal Unova_ is docked. There were a few trainers that had already defeated the Elite Four, and he wanted to take them on a battle just for a pastime.

After this he went to the _Pokemon Center_ and then he wanted to relax, but he was now on _Castelia Street_. Not really a good place for someone who wants peace. He had to budge up all the time to let people pass, a lot of people, coming and going. It was time for them to go home from work, so the street was packed and noisy. Looking up, he couldn't see so much of the vast sky because of the tall skyscrapers and buildings, which seemed to converge towards one another up there.

He went to _Mode Street_ again and stopped by a small art gallery in central Castelia, the _Studio Castelia_, to enjoy so many beautiful paintings from local artists.

At last, but not least, he passed by the _Gym Street_ and popped in the Gym to visit the great artist Burgh – Its Leader. He was surprised about finding the Gym Leader Elesa from Nimbasa there. She really wasn't at her usual spot – Her own Gym, located inside the Amusement Park.

Finally, the time came. In fact, it was 7:30 pm. that means 30 minutes earlier. He went to the _Narrow Street_. His elegant style was no way matching all those dumpsters and rubbish bins on the street. He rushed his pace as he passed by some shady people and shivered at the eerie sight of all those dark buildings.

He let out an audible exhalation of weariness when he finally took a seat, listening to some refreshing music as he started to wander far away from reality into the dim light.

He propped his head up on his arm, which was placed on the counter, and ordered some fresh water.

"Anything else?" Said the counterman as he placed a bottle of water before the handsome boy.

"No. Thank you." He replied laconically. "I'm waiting for someone to arrive."

He added.

"Fine. So call me if you feel like ordering something else."

"Yes, thanks."

He would ask for some more two bottles of water as he awaited. And then, he watched some people coming, eating, drinking, dancing, talking, paying the bill and going away. Analyzing the situation with keen eyes behind the glasses, he noticed that something was wrong.

It was now almost 9 pm. and he was feeling bad about not being home, studying. This is really what he likes to do.

But he waited more 30 minutes patiently. He had already lost his hopes, but he was enjoying the place and that's why he lingered there.

Why not? Maybe he would stay until midnight – Depends on his mood. He just felt disturbed throughout the time he remained when the employees glanced at him with a pitiful expression.

At 9:30 pm, he was all set to leave the _Café Sonata_. While thanking the counterman for everything, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning his head sideways he made sure to first know who was touching him before speaking anything.

"You're late."

"I know, I'm so sorry, Cheren…"

Not facing her, Cheren started to tap his fingers onto the counter, playing rhythmically a dull muffled sound.

"You're sorry? I've got a lot of people here feeling sorry for me. I don't need one more. You should've been here two hours ago, now it's too late and I'm leaving!"

"No, no! Cheren, please! I'm a Gym Leader, you know! I was facing a trainer in a battle just now! Understand, please! I flew as faster as I could to get to Castelia, but… my precious Unfezant was so tired… that I… still I tried to… Oh, I'm so, so sorry…"

Sighing, he decided to give her a chance.

"Fine, I'm alright with that…" He led her towards the booth seating, where he politely sat her down, and took his seat as well.

"So… a chat over coffee?" Waving, she got the waiter's attention, who promptly came over to write down the orders and run a tab. When the waiter left their table, she smiled at the boy in glasses and he frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Why did you ask me out?"

"Oh, hmmm…. you're Touya's friend so… I'd like to know you better! Hee-hee!"

"As I thought… I knew Touya had something to do with it. Very well. But why don't you introduce yourself first?"

"Oh, yeah! No problem. As you already know… my name is Skyla Fuuro, the highflying girl! I specialize in flying-type Pokemon, and I'm Mistralton's Gym Leader. So, I give the jet badge to trainers who defeat me in an official battle. I adore flying, and that's why I own an entire airport. I became a gym leader after my grandfather's retirement, by the way his name is Mile, he was the previous Gym Leader and now he's my assistant. He used to be an amazing pilot, and now he's assumed the position of a legendary figure when it comes to flying. Oh, and I love my hair accessory! It was made to resemble an airplane's propeller! I love it so! Do I… look beautiful?"

"Yes, you do."

"Oh, thank you. And you… you're a good-looking boy!"

Silence turned up again as the waiter waited on their table. He was gone again in a few seconds. Skyla sipped her coffee and added "What about you?"

"Let me just ask something first… where do you wanna get with this?"

She drew her breath in and held it, giving herself some time to think. Releasing it with a long sigh, she leaned forward a bit and spoke, under her breath.

"I just figured that we… we're aiming at the same goal somehow… so, if I ever manage to get what I want, you'll get yours as well…"

He leaned forward with a frown, as he adjusted his glasses.

"May I ask you to put your cards on the table, please?"

"Well, well, dear Cheren… I made myself perfectly clear! You can't see the wood for the trees!" She played with her hair and added "Look, just listen to my proposal and we can argue this out later…"

"Go ahead."

"Hm-hum… I'm just warning you that maybe you'll find it a bit… indecent…"

* * *

><p>AN: Kinda rush, hm! If in doubt, feel free to send me a PM.

Yeah, a dog with two tails means that I'm utterly happy with your review! With all the reviews!

I'll really try to upload faster next time!

Thank you, guys! So much, much, much! S2


	14. Chapter 13

**Hello, guys! I can't believe I'm back with a new chapter! XD **

**Wow! I've been missing you! Really, really, really! Just hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

**And then again, just pass over the errors, ok! I refused to read it all over again... =/**

**I do not own Pokemon. **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 13<strong>

* * *

><p>"Indecent?"<p>

"A little bit."

"A bit much, you mean."

"You'll see it's just much ado about nothing!"

"…"

"Helloooo?"

"Do tell, then."

Skyla smiled slyly, slipping her finger across her lower lip. When she bit it gently, she pressed on.

"You're the most suitable person for this mission… and this will be excellent for the both of us. We'll all end up happy, so can't you see? Can't you see that Touya is deceiving that little stupi…" She swallowed back her words when Cheren's brows furrowed threateningly at the continuity of her speech. "…that girl. He loves me! HE HAS ALWAYS LOVED ME! In fact, I want to help her because… she will suffer badly when she finds out… you know, he just wants to spare her from heartache!" She gave a brief pause to watch Cheren's reaction. "I noticed the way you were talking to her at the Abundant Shrine, and how she was looking at you – her eyes were so bright, so radiant, vivid and resplendent! IT WAS TOTALLY THE LOVE IN HER EYES! She loves you, and you love her too! You guys were made for each other, really! And this is right up my alley since I'll be able to pair up two happy couples with my plan! Forever and ever, till the end of time!"

Leaning his back against the comfortable seating, the smart boy closed his eyes as he carefully took his glasses off by the sidepieces of the frame using both of his hands, and lowered them, almost to the level of his lap as he gently pulled a neat tissue from his pocket to wipe the surfaces, which were already distressing him by providing a blurry vision.

When he put them back, he noticed that the problem was still unsolved. He was just frowning excessively all the time, keeping his eyes narrowed to slits, and that was the reason why his vision was so limited.

"Why aren't you… pleased with what I said?"

"First. It's not that easy to make me show my feelings, especially, if I'm not with someone I trust. Second. Don't go thinking that when you say something like this, you're gonna see me grinning from ear to ear. The most I can do is to flash a little smile at someone or something that I really like. Third. This sounds covert jealousy to me. And I'm not supposed to help someone who turns against my friends and criticizes them, with such a low argument." He shook his head in disapproval. "Still I commiserate with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You want me to comply with the selfish request you envisioned to make my friends break up and ruin their relationship."

"I can't believe you're saying this!"

"Neither can I."

"What the heck are you thinking? Who do you think I am?"

"Don't know. Maybe you're a good sort. Maybe not. Unfortunately, I can't be sure because I don't know you that much."

Skyla grimaced and sprang back, as upon firing, her knees wobbling under the table. Trying to keep herself under control, she tittered as she breathed faster, thinking about her dignity and image. She had to fix it now.

"Look, my dear… I would never tear into your beloved Bianca for stealing my man. I-I like her, you know…" She wore a fake innocent look and thought something like 'ugh' to herself.

"Yes, I can see you like her." He replied, full of sarcasm.

"Please, don't talk like that."

"Hm-hum. Is that all? See Skyla, I wanted to be in my room tonight bucking my intelligence up, and what I am doing instead?"

"Improving your social lif…"

"LOSING TIME!"

"Oh, no, no! I'm sorry if I said something wrong! But, please, please… STAY!"

Cheren huffed and sighed. He can't resist the magic of the polite words – Those like _sorry, please, thank you_ and etc.

"Alright, alright."

"Well, hmm… Let's make it a good night, what do you think?"

"Whatever… It can't get worse anyway…"

"Cheren! Don't be so pessimistic!"

"Correcting, I'm realistic."

Skyla broke into a chortle of amusement as she lifted the cup of coffee towards her mouth. "You're an interesting guy!" Winking at him, she kept the object up to hide her lips behind it.

"Thank you."

"Tell me more about you, I wanna know!"

"I'm a reserved person."

"Oh, please!"

The polite word again.

"Fine. What would you like to know?"

"Anything. Just tell!"

She moved her upper body forward, placing elbows onto the table. Cheren coughed softly and began.

"As you may know already, I was born in Nuvema Town. I have lived there since then, and so has my childhood friend, Bianca Noir."

He noticed the woman rolling her eyes at the finish of his last sentence.

"I'd like to know more about Touya instead, if it's possible, please."

"Well Skyla, I assure you I can't tell you my story, even if it's just a tiny piece of it, if I don't talk about my friends. And Bianca is like the most important person to me, along with my parents, Touya and Touko, so if you don't want to hear her name, I'll stop this right here and right now."

Gritting teeth and twisting the delicate napkin impatiently under the table, she had to pretend compliance so that he wouldn't quit.

"Oh, it's fine. Just go on, please."

"Yes. So…" He thought carefully. Sighing, he added, "I told you that because even though we've all grown up together there, Touya and Touko used to live in a different town before, neither was born in Nuvema, as far as I know."

"Interesting… I didn't know that!" Skyla widened her eyes, surprised and even more curious.

This exact moment, when the couple was completely entertained, the doorbell chimed and a group of teenagers, of disguised teenagers, stepped into the Café. They behaved in a furtive manner (obviously getting the people's attention) as they took some stealthy footsteps towards the chosen place, the booth seating that was beside Cheren and Skyla's. Some people stared inquiringly at the suspicious figures, but they forgot it as soon as they disappeared from their sight.

"I feel… ridiculous…" N said, frowning as he tugged at the long lime-colored cloak he was wearing. "I thought we couldn't attract people's attention, but it's kinda impossible like this…"

"Come on N! We need action! Adventure is my last name!" Touya whispered as he slapped the table's surface. They could not make noises or else, they would be caught.

There was a slight silence among whispers.

"I thought your last name was Black…" The green haired man pointed out, confused.

"Same hereeee!" Bianca jiggled her arm as she agreed.

Touko strove not to yell at them all and finally she managed to keep her composure.

"I'm tired of being the only reasonable person around you, guys! Shut up or I won't be able to control myself and I'll lay this plan to waste!" The brunette crossed her arms and leaned her back furiously against the back of the seating. Touya raised his hands, as if surrendering, grinning playfully.

"Alright miss quick temper!" He teased, arousing easily the girl's bad mood. She narrowed her eyes while threatening to take her boot off and throw it harmfully at him as soon as she'd got her right foot bare and the object was ready for use, at hand, literally. Flames were watered down by N's cool hand, which was now placed onto Touko's.

"Don't make a scene, Touko." He was there, sitting beside her and she had to swallow herself being lectured again by the former Plasma King. Reluctantly, she realized she was being a kid letting the anger take control, and stared at her hand, halfway to remove completely the boot.

"You're right, N. I'm sorry."

"Sometimes I think you could've been born siblings." Bianca uttered, laughing quietly as she poked her boyfriend with her finger.

"WHAT? NO WAY!" The blue eyed girl yelled, standing up. Before she could fully reach the upright position, N pulled her back down to where she was.

"SHHHHHH!" The young man shushed the girl while hiding her from the others.

Cheren, who wasn't stupid, interrupted his story.

"I think I know this voice…"

"What?" Skyla suddenly cocked her head, as it left the support of her latched hands and stared at him expectantly. The shrewd boy inspected the area carefully through his glasses. He had a single brow raised and it was making him very charming somehow.

Realizing what was going on, on the other side, the teenagers looked at each other desperately and froze up, N's hand still placed on Touko's mouth.

"Guess you deserve kudos, queen of reason!" Touya murmured his sarcastic disapproval.

"What now? Shall we leave?" Bianca asked as she kept watching each one of Cheren's meticulous moves, every once in a while looking at the exit door.

"No! If we leave now, he'll notice! And that's when we'll be caught!" The brown haired boy answered, almost doing to her the same N was doing to Touko – zipping up her mouth with his hand.

"So… what if we let him get us here passively and then we'll go like 'Hi, Cheren! What a nice coincidence! What are you doing here? Oh, why don't we all enjoy this beautiful night togeth…" Now Touya had his hand on Bianca's lips too. Before doing this, he slapped his hand against his face and let it slide all the way down pretty heavily.

"What is he doing now?" N asked the other boy once he was sitting where he couldn't see him.

"S-Standing up…" The other young man answered with wide eyes.

"Keep calm. We're dealing with a tar baby anyway… what we have to do is… stop trying to solve this problem or it'll only get worse!" The sensible green haired man stated, gently and slowly removing his hand from the brunette's face. "I'm sorry for this, Touko. It's just… you were losing control…"

"Okay, I'm alright with it… I stuffed our plan up, I admit… I'm sorry…" She lowered her head a bit.

"Yeah girl! Everybody has problems! Just remind that if you have yours, it's not our fault!" The young boy pretended to give her a disdainful look. The girl just ignored him.

"Yes it's your fault! You're annoying her, Touya, stop it!" Bianca tore into her boyfriend for misbehaving, even though she's generally unable to cope.

"Hm-hum. That's me! That's always me! I'm always the problem, but, wait… we'll talk about this later because… here he comes…"

Cheren stood up and politely explained his reasons.

"Excuse-me, miss. I'll clear off for a while because I've got a tricky situation to puzzle out. I'll be back in a minute." He turned the other way.

"What's wrong, Cheren? I was enjoying the story of your life!"

"I'm sorry. As I said, I'll be back in a minute!" He took some distance and started looking around. 'I think it came from this side…' He thought to himself and hoofed it to the exact place where his disguised friends were listening to his conversation. 'I'm pretty sure it was Touko…' He reasoned. 'I just don't think it's a mere coincidence… she'll have some trouble to make me think otherwise.' Thinking and walking, he started to see what seemed to be the top of Touko's head with her beautiful silky chocolate hair bearing out her friend's suspicion. 'I knew it…' Inhaling intensely, he stuffed his pockets with his hands and in a matter of seconds, he was already there, face to face with…

"Touko?"

The girl slowly lifted her head and brushed her bangs with her fingertips.

"What?"

"I-I'm s-sorry, ma'am… I… thought you were someone else…"

In fact, the hair was almost the same. The rest wasn't.

"Are you ok?"

"Y-Yes, yes, I am. I hope, at least... Well, hm… I'm sorry, again. I-I'll l-leave you alone now… bye…" Cheren waved awkwardly, a clumsy smile to feign naturalness, that he was not affected. When he felt like he was dismissed, he turned around quickly and lumbered over to his table, dropping himself to a lower position when he finally could sit down. He took again a tissue from his pocket and dabbed his face all over, quickly and nervously.

"What happened? You're… sweating…"

"I think I'm going insane…" He almost sank to stop underneath the table.

"Why?"

"Don't ask difficult questions, please."

"Ok…" Skyla frowned, disappointed and confused.

But not far from there, disappointment was not the feeling.

"Haha… That was great! Nice trick, N!" Touya praised the young King's idea, holding his breath so that he wouldn't laugh louder. "Man, he bought it! He actually bought it!"

"Yeah, but we can't say he's a gullible guy. He's very smart indeed… we ought to be careful…" N climbed the seating and made a gesture to his Zoroak. The Pokemon changed back into his usual appearance. "Thank you, my friend! You really saved us!" He murmured as he discreetly called it back to the Poke Ball. "The coast is clear!"

The adolescents heard the information and showed up. All this time, they were hiding under the table.

"What a perfect transformation! He didn't even suspect!" Bianca clapped her hands enthusiastically, slowing it down gradually and then she stopped when everybody stared her down. "Yup…sorry…" She smiled weakly.

"Well, it was really perfect, Bianca, but as an illusion. Zoroak is unable to change himself physically into another form. He only creates illusions to delude foes." The green haired young man explained.

"Very realistic, hun! Hey! And we are here for? Let's focus on Cheren's date!" Touko whispered and pointed at the other table, promptly getting nods from her friends.

Regaining composure, Cheren sat properly and cleared his throat. "I'm sorry for this… well, let me continue from where I left off…"

The girl positioned herself in a way she could hear him better and winked, showing that she was ready to give his adventures a listen. She would hang on his every word throughout the whole night, from dusk till dawn, if it was necessary.

Cheren feels like glorifying who shows fully interest in his speech. The problem is when there are people eavesdropping on his conversation and _that_ was the case.

"I'd like to snack off some delicious fries while listening to this!" Touya pointed out as he beckoned to the waiter.

"Wow! Wow! Glad you called the waiter, honey, I'm thirst! I wanna a water bottle!" The blonde girl whispered at her boyfriend's ear. He turned around and started kissing her as she wrapped her arms about his neck while talking secretly to each other in a childish manner.

"Hey, guys! Here comes the waiter!" They didn't pay attention to Touko. "Geez…" She rolled her eyes at the scene.

"Why they are talking like that?" N studied the couple, baffled.

"Just forget them, N. I'll dismiss the waiter!"

"What? No, no, no! He'll get my food! I'm starving!" The brown haired boy immediately replied, squeezing his girlfriend gently.

"But we had an excellent dinner at my home, and… you're still hungry?"

"It's obvious. I'm always hungry."

"Nah. We're not gonna eat." The brunette raised her brows as she watched her friends having a moment right in front of her and N. "Touya, for Arceus' sake! It's not time for this! What happened today was still not enough for you?"

"My private life does not concern you!" He answered rudely with a mischievous grin defying her.

"And who said it does, you plonker!"

"Touko, calm down! Touya, please…" N opened his arms as he looked at Touya with that facial expression that implies something like '_enough!'_, and turned to the impatient girl beside him to put his arms around her. "Maybe this way you're gonna feel better…"

In fact, she quietened down in a jiffy out of infatuation.

"Err… excuse-me… now, would you like having me writing down your orders?" The waiter asked, his eyes popping and it was due to an awkward embarrassment.

"Yes, please. I'd like having some fries. Oh, and a bottle of water." The brown haired boy replied.

"Fine… And you? Lovely couple?" The man turned to Touko and N, he spoke firmly yet softly. He bent forward and frowned a bit, as if he was trying to recognize someone. "I think I've seen you before…"

N adjusted his baseball cap, lowering its brim a bit so that it would hide his handsome face in a subtle shadow. "I'm afraid we're not acquainted yet…" The young King fidgeted in his seat, he could be even compared to a gelatin jiggling on a plate.

"Well maybe… you're right… maybe not… maybe not!" The waiter stroked lightly his mustache and then curled it.

"Hey, mister! Looks like you're not having your work cut out, are you?" The pretty girl beside the gelatin-like man waved to get his attention. "I'd like some water, please."

"Sure thing, miss. Anything else?"

"Ahh… correcting, she'd better be having some sugar water instead." Touya butted in their conversation playfully.

"Shut up you idiot!"

"See what I told ya?"

And there they go again.

"I'm sorry for this! It seems they've got their heads out of whack tonight…" Bianca apologized and held her boyfriend closer. When the waiter tore off to get their orders the blonde girl added in secrecy "If you don't behave I'll go on a sex strike!" She murmured and blushed hard after that, covering her mouth as she let out a small gasp. Her own words took her aback. "Sorry… I-I'm not supposed to say those t-things…"

"Yeah, angel! Neither you're supposed to say nor eventually do this!" He replied brushing her ear with his lips. She shivered and giggled nervously as it was arousing her concealed lust again that day.

"Come on, you two! Mind this conversation! He's talking about us!" Touko uttered, and of course, no full voice. The lovers heeded her advice and took notice of what was going on.

"I think I'm becoming very redundant with this… It's just that… I… I don't know how to talk about my life! Let me try one more time…" He earned Skyla's patient nod and went ahead. "When I was five years old, I woke up and… It was a really pleasant morning. Comfortable, warm and quiet. I was getting ready for school in my room, and I remember I was told there was a new child in Nuvema, you know… that town is too small, so… we end up knowing every little detail about the modest population there. I call it gossip, but… that's the way it happens…" He shrugged and moved on "I couldn't care less because I never listen to gossips, I hate'em! And since it didn't concern me, I could only think about my first day at school! I was getting very excited over it, unlike the other kids. They generally feel sad, nervous and scared on the first day. Then, my father took me there and I got in the classroom, sat in my chair and happily started reading a book on history. The teacher came in and kicked off the school year by introducing herself and the kids to each other, going over all those classroom rules and all those protocols that everybody knows. I knew this would happen so I kept doing what really interested me, reading. That's when she announced that we were about to make a new friend and we had to say hello to our new classmate. Then, Touya came in. He has always been… the most popular boy wherever he goes and it wasn't different this day. He surely caught everybody's attention in a blink of an eye because all the kids either wanted to be with him or be him…" He paused for a while, watching Skyla's lovesick expression. It was almost like he could see little hearts fluttering around her, popping into view from behind the spoony young woman. Her silly smile made an average sweatdrop appear behind his head somehow. She was only able to suspire warmly and passionately.

"I know I'm the best!" The young boy said with an attractive crooked smile.

"Don't get cocky, idiot!" Touko snarled, not giving herself time to look at him, so that, he could feel like he was being ignored.

"I was tagged as a "nerd" in my classroom. They used to make a mock of me because of my glasses, taking them from me and putting on them, throwing my glasses away right after. They liked forcing me to go crawling along the ground in order to find them by myself, blind as I am. It was humiliating. This was always like that. It used to happen a lot, but now it's just a distant past. There was only one girl that was always there to cheer me up and help me when those kinds of things started to take place. It was reassuring, for sure it was. This little girl helped me on my feet and gave me the most beautiful and sincere smile I've ever seen. I really thought she was an angel when I first saw her because she was… so pure, so unreal... we could be friends at the moment but… she was also too extravagant… too happy, too eloquent and loud for me to befriend. I wasn't looking for friends but… if I were to get one, I'd like a silent someone to be around me. Although I had no conditions, however I wanted to choose the kind of friend I wanted. When I met Touya I could never imagine we would be friends someday. I loathed his appearance and how he was the center of attentions. Everybody loved him and everybody hated me…" The silence was so deep that even those noisy background voices engaged in fun conversations weren't able to disguise it.

"You fine?" Skyla asked quietly with a sorrowful expression.

"I am. Thank you. I just… I don't really care if they hated me… I… just happen to remember how brave and fearless Touya was… it's hard to make the decision he made… you know, people adored him and he let it all go just because of the most unpopular boy ever. When kids started to mess with me he was always there, right on the spot to face them on behalf of Cheren Komor… That's how he earned my respect – by respecting me! Some kids turned against him and tried to annoy the both of us, but he managed to make them stop, once and for all. I finally had a friend. Nevertheless, he's totally my opposite. I don't know how, when or why did we exactly become friends but it happened… See, I liked to lock myself in the library to study and he liked to run and play outside. He was so energetic that I remembered the little blonde girl… they were like… a cut from the same cloth. I wondered why I didn't befriend her once they were so alike."

Everybody listened to Cheren attentively and quietly, especially Touya, who was trying his utmost not to cry in front of his friends, stashing away some persistent tears. He fiddled away the moment by entertaining himself as he played with his fingers, twisted his lips and focused on how his breath sounded like. He wasn't really expecting something like that coming from his best male friend.

"I knew Bianca and all… but we only got closer when Touya made friends with her. I thought she was kinda creepy because she liked to sneak up on me and smile, even though she didn't know me… these things used to creep me out a bit… but as the time went by, I realized she is a special girl and I started to enjoy her presence a lot… well, sometimes she annoys me… in fact, most of the time she does… " He scratched his head. "But… sometimes I feel she was always… the one I loved…" The boy blushed, not believing he was opening up to someone he barely knew.

"Wooooow! How adorable! I'd be at your feet with these words!" Skyla clasped her hands together in a romantic manner. "She's a lucky girl!"

The silence that was before taking root now turned into a boisterous stir.

"WHAT? HE'S ON A DATE WITH… SKYLA?" Touya couldn't restrain his surprise.

"SHHHHHHHHHHH!" The teenagers expressed a loud and massive _shush _to hush up more clamant words. Fortunately, Skyla was as blatant as him, and this was enough to suppress the known of his proximity.

"You identified her voice so quickly, Touya-Kun!" Bianca jerked out making her boyfriend gape immediately.

"What? You used to call me like that when you were only my friend…" He replied, slightly lowering his tone as he stared painfully at her.

"Perhaps we're just getting back to that…"

"What? You're suggesting we're breaking up just because I recognized Skyla's voice? That's nonsense! I'm the one who could really get mad with that love confession Cheren's just made!" He giggled nervously, shaking his head.

"You probably have half a mind to break up with me, I can feel it… I may be daft but I'm not stupid…"

"Bianca, honestly… what's wrong with you? I don't wanna break up, why are you saying this absurd?"

"Hey guys, we're in a public place and we've got to be good boys and girls right now, ok?" Touko tried to pacify the imminent war, or at least, put it off. She also reasoned that doing so, she could water down the tension and make them resolve this quarrel easily later. "He's talking about me!" She whispered and smiled widely, excited to know what he had to say about her.

"It was just me, Touya and Bianca. And later, Touko joined our trio. I remember that Touya and Bianca took Mr. Noir's, her father, Pokemon without permission to practice Pokemon battling. He found out and hid them in a safe place, not forgetting to give his overprotected daughter a good punishment and also told Touya off for making his daughter a rebel… then he informed Touya's mother about the incident and she punished him as well. On the other day Touko showed up for the first time, but they weren't at school. She soon received a nickname, the kids called her _the porcelain doll_, because of her white, pure and delicate skin, as well as her fragile frame and thus, she was labeled the untouchable porcelain doll. She had endearing eyes that resembled the deep blue ocean's water, her silky hair was almost supernatural. It was very long and it formed curls at the end that bounced gracefully as she walked. She had an indescribable sweet, enticing smell that would attract to her someone who's miles away distant in sunniness. Her smile was so bright that it was the sunlight itself… and this explains why so many boys were falling for her, and the girls… most of them hated her. They were just jealous. These girls rejected her and the boys just wanted to chat her up. She had no friends at all. I was no different from the other boys. I liked her, however I wanted to be only a friend. This was what she needed. I grew up in love with her, but she never noticed my feelings. No one has ever noticed this, it's the naked truth. Finally, her indifference sank in and I'm not a fool to think that it was mutual. I felt I was losing my hopes and decided to give Bianca a chance so that I could try to forget Touko and maybe…maybe… arouse some jealousy, if there was any… then someday Touya… I don't know how… he knew I liked Touko…"

"Cheren, please… I already know this part of the story so… if you shall skip…" The gym leader interrupted the flow of the narrative before it could gain a rebelshipper background.

"Fine. I won't stick to unessential points." Cheren agreed to her suggestion and passed over it disregarding what intervenes.

The teenagers heard the last sentences and became all flabbergasted. It was utterly rare to hear him extolling the virtues of his closest friends like that. He was very inspired indeed. Touko was moved to tears and, unlike Touya, she didn't try the slightest bit to stop them from falling.

"I never thought that… someone would ever think about me this way…" The brunette said as she wiped her own tears. "This is getting so emotional, don't you think? But I'm relieved Skyla asked him to skip this part… awakening those memories would be like a self-destruction to all of us… I hate to admit I was the pivot that led everything to such a hurtful ending…"

"It was not your fault, Touko. Stop . Cheren was the one who really knocked the pins from under Bianca, and it made me want to punch his lights out! But now it's over and he's still a nice bloke." Touya pointed out, setting his opinion forth in sincere words.

"He's right, Touko-Chan! Don't blame it on you, please... I can't let our friendship be gone to pot because of a silly misunderstanding!" Bianca cheered her best female friend up, showing that her heart had already waded through this racking way, searching for full regeneration.

"Thank you, guys! I love you! Really!" Touko blubbered out, blue eyes filled with tears.

Peace stood in for the previous tense atmosphere, but not for so long.

"Skyla… would you mind if I… tell you a little secret?"

"What? No, no… Of course not! Oh, how I like knowing people's deepest secrets…well, I mean… keeping people's secrets! That's what I like the most because I am veeeeeeeeery trustful!" The young woman bent her upper body forward as her stomach was totally laid horizontally on the table. This way she could be literally in a face-to-face position with Cheren.

"Please, don't exaggerate. I'll cut to the chase and won't tell you twice, so, pay attention."

"How come he's gonna tell her a secret? He never shared his secrets with us! Doesn't he trust his friends?" Touya hit the table with his fist, laughing sarcastically. "This is ridiculous!"

"Pull in the reins, Touya! Are you sure we really DON'T know what he's gonna say?" Touko's words plowed into his and won the competition as he gave in and became silent.

"I can tell you it's my secret because I formulated it… but I haven't conjured it up, in fact, I've seen and studied so many evidences, thus I believe that what I'm gonna say is… the truth. At the same time, it doesn't concern me at all. Yeah, surprisingly. It has nothing to do with me, except that I've made this hypothesis…" His glasses bent back light from their surfaces as he adjusted them.

"So… this is someone else's secret? Whose?" Excited, the gym leader could neither breathe nor blink.

"I warn you… don't you ever say a single about it or I'll be forced to never trust you again! No amends, no concessions! This is very confidential! No one knows it! Do you understand?"

"Absolutely!"

"Since you are so sick in love with Touya and keep acting like a lovelorn adolescent... I think you should know a few things to finally get over it…"

"WHAT? LOVELORN? YOU MUST BE KIDDING!"

"Would you please listen to me first?"

"SPILL THE BEANS! NOW!"

For a word of mention, obviously, Touya was frenzied, ready to lash out at anyone he could possibly come across at the moment.

"Prepare yourself!" He recommended. All attentions turned to him, even unwanted ones. Everything came to a standstill, with the exception of anxious hearts beating like they were going to explode inside their ribs.

….

"MASTER! WELCOME BACK!"

"Oh, hi there, Marshall!" Alder replied, getting into the main hall of the Pokemon's league. "I'm exhausted! If I had to make it through that large mountain to reach the league just like all those trainers do almost every day, I'd probably be dead by now…."

"Haha! Victory Road is a very rough path, for real! I just take those treacherous cliffs as my favorite spots for training! I can't honestly believe they scare off so many trainers!"

"They're just kids… speaking of kids… did you know that Touko and the others really pulled it off at the Abundant Shrine?"

"Ho ho ho! I watched the news! Shauntal gathered us all around the TV to see the good news! I'm pleased to know that those menacing earthquakes ceased completely now. I knew they could do it!"

"Sure thing! And she managed to bring Caitlin along? I though she liked sleeping over everything else!"

"Yeah, that's true! However, she understands when it's time to be wide awake…" Marshall was off in his world for a while, like dreaming away. He shook his head not to lose contact with reality.

"So, she sleeps and you dream in her place, hum? Looks like the sleeping beauty has got a daring prince on his way to awaken her with a true love's kiss!"

"Nice analogy, Master! If that girl pricks her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel she would damage the entire Region by releasing her psychic powers! And this, thanks to her explosive temper! I'm always on the outs with Princess Caitlin!"

"Yeah… she's very headstrong, but she's a good woman underneath!" Alder took some steps towards the central statue and stared firmly at it while the fighting-type Pokemon Master was sprucing himself up for the night. Then, he turned around and did a double-take when he stopped to give Marshall a better look. "Am I really seeing what I'm seeing or… aren't you dressed to the nines?"

"I am dressed for… a lovely dame!" The elite four member declaimed as he tucked a casual evening shirt into his trousers after unbuttoning his blazer. "This is a far cry from my real style, but… the girl is nothing less than a fashion expert… That's why I'm doing my level best!"

"You just gave me hint of who it might be! I have someone on my mind but I must ask you nonetheless… Do I know her?"

"You and the rest of the world since she's a famous model!" Grinning from ear to ear he left Alder there to wonder, aware that he would quickly suss it out. The hall went sheer quiet again when Marshall's voice started to cease echoing, emphasizing the voice of Alder's thoughts, a vortex of encircling reflections inside his head. Before he could activate the statue to lower him to the courtyard below, he heard footsteps approaching, coming from one of these four stairways, from the upper-right room maybe? His ears started ringing because those steps seemed to demolish, crush and reduce to powder the floor underneath them. It was so violent against it, that the feet could be printed on the surface of its dried cement easily.

"HOW COULD YOU!" Caitlin bawled furiously, ready to nail Alder's ears back.

"Shhh! Do you know what time is it, Caitlin? You're supposed to be sleeping! As usual!"

"No challengers today, so, I slept the day away… do not change the subject! Why did you let him out?"

"It's his life, not mine! I've got no reason to rain on his parade! Why do you care? Live and let live!"

"He ought to wake up pretty early tomorrow!"

"Oh, yeah? Tell me another one!"

"You dare not to believe me? This league has gone up the spout lately, Alder, you know why? Because he keeps on slacking off and you keep on protecting him! He's always shirking his duty and everybody here has got to save his skin! IT'S AN ABSURD!"

"Absurd? Absurd is what I'm hearing! You know what, my dear? Get a life! Now, excuse-me!" The red-haired man pressed the pad of his thumb to some concealed part of the statue so that it would be able to identify the Champion. He also entered a password, causing the statue to open and turn into some kind of elevator. He went in but the physic-type Pokemon Master grabbed his loose garment.

"You'll be sorry, Champion!"

"So will you. Stand back!" Twisting his arm from her grasp, he jerked it away from her. "It's a shame you're doing it just out of jealousy!" He said coldly as the elevator was closing in on her. Caitlin backed away and watched the statue coming back to normal agape.

"Jealousy? THAT'S RIDICULOUS!" The young woman flipped her hair out of her eyes with a "Humph!" and strutted back to her room. Soon, she started yelling again. "DARACH! DARACH! THERE'S SOMETHING I'D LIKE YOU TO DO!"

….

"Mrs. White!"

"Looker! Please, come in!"

The door was closed and securely locked. The living room curtains were drawn to cover the windows.

"Fortunately the kids aren't home tonight! I can't meet you when they're around! You know, being in the dark equals another sleepless night…"

"Don't worry, ma'am! The investigation is finally over! From now on, I guarantee you won't ever have another sleepless night!"

"Oh, dear…" Mrs. White choked up as she cried her heart out, unable to stop. "I lived my whole life just… just to finally hear this…"

"After all these years of suffering… seeing your smile now, these tears of joy… It really means a lot to me! Our suspicions are correct, Mrs. White! Now, are you ready for the next level?"

"I'm n-not sure if I'll ever b-be…"

"Don't say that, ma'am! Don't give up now!"

"Ok, ok… I'm not gonna chicken out! It's now that I've got to be stronger!"

"That's the spirit! I've been meaning to ask you something… have you… ever had a word with your daughter about it?"

"Never…"

"Not even now?"

"No… however, I couldn't hide it from her when she came back… she asked me and I told her that I'd tell her when it's time…"

"Finally, it's time!"

"Yes, it is… it is!"

….

"YEAH, I FOLLOW YOUR LOGIC, BUT… TELL ME! TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!"

"To summarize…" Cheren inhaled deeply for a brief instant, but it still looked like an eternity. "You've got no point in having a grudge against Bianca… what I'm trying to say is that… she's definitely not the owner of Touya's heart…"

The scene was divided into several parts, revealing each one of their dumbstruck reactions - anime-style.

"Touya's real love is… Touko."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm really sorry for this! this chapter's so boring and it took so long... *It's a shame...* Sorry, sorry!**

**I saw the previous chapter's reviews and my PM and you know what? As always, you are the best, guys! I luv ya! S2**

**Thank you soooo very much! You mean the world to me! **

**Hope I can upload again soon! I'll try my very best! **


	15. Chapter 14

**Hi guys! I'm back! =D**

**Enjoy!**

**I do not own Pokemon! **

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 14<strong>

Castelia's Narrow Street was actually murk, dull and obscure, also, sparks off danger. It's a downright certainty this street's not even the last place in the world where a little girl could be roaming about so late at night.

However, the true state of affairs was other that night. A blonde, naïve girl was running through the street aimlessly, after flouncing out of the Café, weeping herself into a state of exhaustion.

She stopped before reaching its end and bent forward, hands resting on her knees. She didn't run much, her fatigue was mostly due to her desperate, painful cry. She cried in a way of inspiring the same action on anyone who could watch this sad scene. Low choking moans barely left her throat as she tried to ask herself something like "Why?" and these sorts of things.

She stood up with great difficult, like she was feeling some kind of physical pain as she was pining away now. Stumbling, the blonde girl tried to leave, all the while whining and sobbing a lot. Her suffering was almost unbearable to her, even limiting movements. Her vision was blurred, head throbbing immensely. She couldn't go so far like that.

The end of that back alley was lying nearby but, to her state, it looked like miles ahead to go. Still, she proceeded until someone pops up out of nowhere in front of her. Two thugs, smirking and laughing darkly, grabbed her by the arm, and one of them got so close that his breath seemed a liquid leaking out on her neck.

"UNHAND ME!" She demanded, yet weakly.

"Pipe down, sweetheart! We mean no harm!"The shady figure caught a whiff of her perfume by burying his face into her hair causing the young girl to wince disgustingly at the contact. She feared the worst but struggled to brush it aside as far as she could.

"Don't be afraid! I've got what you need, babe!" Said the other thug, sifting through her body. "You're one-hundred-percent hot, hum! Why wear so many clothes?"

Bianca was terrified that they would assault her. She tried to break away from them, but they were holding her too tightly.

"Please, don't!" She pleaded, whining tearfully hard.

"Enough! I don't wanna hear another peep out of you, hottie!"

She was in a serious tight corner.

Touya was still at the Café because when Bianca ran off, he tried chasing her right behind, but plowed into the waiter when he was coming with their orders. He aided the man in cleaning up the mess once he's the kind of person that never walks away when someone needs help.

"I-I'm sorry…I'm so sorry! I just can't think straight right now! It's all my fault!" The young boy apologized, being careful enough to cover his head with the hood of his black jacket.

"No problem, kid! I'll handle the rest, thank you!"

Touya nodded and muttered "You're welcome." He turned about to talk to N before exiting. "I know I still have to pony up for the snack but I'm in a serious hurry now, so… I'm really sorry for this, N… would you please do me a solid and pick up the tab for me?"

"Of course, Touya. Just go cheer Bianca up!" N answered with Touko nestling up to him like a shivering puppy. The brunette had tried going after her female friend, but the green haired man stopped her saying that she needed time alone.

"Thank you so very much, buddy! I'll try to cheer my girlfriend up, and you... do the same to yours! We'll talk later so I can even up my financial pendency with you! See ya!" He tore out after his girlfriend, praying to find her within reach.

"Girlfriend…" He looked down at the girl that was lying on his lap crying uncontrollably. He stroked her face softly and invited her to go somewhere else with him, cooing fondly at her ear. She just nodded in agreement.

….

"HELP! SOMEONE HELP!" Bianca shrieked in horror, fighting those hands on her. Her white blouse was half ripped and her clothes were getting wrinkled. She had to break loose before it's too late. But how? She was too fragile and they were way stronger than her. They were two men. She was just a girl. But wait! There's light! Light at the end of the tunnel! Her Pokemon! They could save her! If she just had them with her…they're in her favorite drawer, safely in her room, sadly.

'What am I to do?' She thought and started to pray silently. The response came immediately when Touya bravely nudged the bandit's shoulder, and, once he turned the other way, he was clouted badly on the nose. He lost balance, staggered backwards and tripped on a trash bin, falling clumsily to the ground and hurting his head. He blacked out. The other hood, who was keeping closewatch on his partner, aggressively tore at him, turning his hand into a fist.

"I'LL KNOCK YOU DOWN BY FORCE, YOU SPOILT BRAT!"

"Well, I honestly can't believe an unmanly coward like you is able to do such a thing! You chicken, can only abuse innocent young girls when there's no one else around! You're just a bunch of filthy crooks, scaredy-cats!"

"TOUYA, NO!"

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, LITTLE IMP!" The thug grabbed the collar of his jacket and pulled the young boy to him, his fist ready to strike with huge force.

"NOOO!" Bianca tried to avoid what was about to come by holding the man's arm, using all the strength she had, but surely it was not enough and he gave her a rude shove. She fell roughly and her arm was wounded. Touya's blood reached its boiling point after being carried away and this was the last straw for him. He gritted his teeth and got his muscles all beefed up.

"SO YOU THINK BASHING A GIRL AGAINST THE GROUND WILL MAKE YOU LOOK TOUGH? WELL, I GUESS IT COULD ONLY SUIT THE LIKES OF YOU!" The boy grabbed the man likewise, as firmly as he could, and sprang his feet off the ground to kick the man's stomach violently. He groaned in pain as he loosened his grasp and the young boy took this opportunity to finish him. With a low kick, the thug went down, a hand still placed on his stomach, but he managed to bring Touya with him as well. They rolled on the ground for a while, fighting and taking the piss out of each other.

"STOP, PLEASE!" Bianca screamed at the top of her lungs. "SOMEONE HELP!" She stood up undeterred by her nasty injuries, looking around restlessly in search of something. She noticed that the man had pinned Touya against the ground and he was now immobilized. She watched in horror as he said he wouldn't let her lover live after what he had done. She broke down but didn't bottle out as she got a random trash bin's lid off and bore down on them. The blonde girl inhaled deeply. She had never ever hurt someone before. "The end justifies the means!" She told herself and closing her eyes tightly, she knocked him out by hitting his nape forcefully.

"OH, MY ARCEUS! I KILLED HIM?" She gasped in shock when he fell limply on the dirty surface of the alley. Touya checked his pulsation.

"No. He's just unconscious, just like the other one." He looked up at Bianca and took a notice of her state. "What did those rotten goons do to you, love…" His mournful expression was hurting her more than anything else. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, my love! I should've been here earlier! I hate myself for this!" He wrapped his arms all around her protectively. She snuggled into his embrace and cried vigorously willing him to do the same. "I love you! I'm each day, each second more and more in love with you!"

"But Cheren said…"

"Forget that, my dear … he's wrong to the core!"

"I… I d-don't know what to think anymore…" She pulled away slightly and his grasp got tighter. The young boy hugged her firmly, his lips kissing repeatedly one side of her head, stopping at her ear, where he spoke softly as he cried.

"Cheren wants you back, claiming that he loves you… but he screwed things up in the past. He dumped you and made you suffer. He left you inconsolable and all alone. Now it's easy for him to say that I'm following suit."

"Touya please… I don't wanna talk about it…"

"It's ok… let me call the police and we'll go home, right?"

Bianca nodded quietly, refusing to look at him. She kept her head buried in his chest and let her hair fall all over her face. Touya lifted her head, so that he could look into her bright green eyes.

"Touya…"

"Yes?"

"Thank you… I dread to think what could've happened to me if you weren't here…"

"I'd die for you! I just can't forgive myself for not being able to reach you earlier…"

"Don't worry about it, you came just in time!"

"And… it turned out you had to save me in the end… thank you… for everything, my dear love…"

They smiled at each other.

"Come on, let's call the police and get out of here! I'd never let those stinking scoundrels hook it after what they did!" Touya turned his X-transcreiver on. "They're now at the mercy of the arresting officer!"

….

Nimbasa City was different from its usual merry, crowded streets. This City is generally buzzing with leisure and entertainment. From dusk till dawn, it's bleak. Everyone was asleep and the City was silent.

"Nimbasa looks so different…" Touko whiffed out, ambling along and enjoying that new scenery, even though it was already so familiar to her.

"You're right. It's funny how things change because of a mere detail…" N said, walking slowly beside her next to the curb. The brunette breathed heavily and wiped her warm tears, which were making her face colder against the biting icy wind. The young King stopped to watch her patiently.

"I'd be lying if I say that I don't know why you're taking me here now… I remember like yesterday how we… narrowed the spaces between us and got closer somehow after the Ferris Wheel ride…"

"That was the first time I marked your card, sorry for that…"

"Don't apologize! If it weren't for this we wouldn't…" Touko sucked her words up in time like a vacuum cleaner. She blushed and N frowned.

"We wouldn't…?"

"It's nothing I… I just drew a blank!"

The young man shrugged and couldn't hide his frustration.

"Oh, come on! Don't do this… you get so cute when you're pouting!" The brunette pinched his cheeks gently to play with him. "You're just a silly itsy-bitsy tot!"

"What? Tot? You're kidding me!" N chuckled and took her hands off of him. "You know full well I'm a grown up man!"

"Yeah… still hanging on to the child you used to be!"

"…"

"N… why are you embarrassed? You should be proud of it!"

"You say I'm a kid! Why should I be proud? People would certainly poke fun at me if they hear that!"

"Because they're ignorant! And you were biased by this ridiculous point of view! Don't let this contaminate your pure soul… this is the most precious thing you carry… your innocence… this is what I mean when I say you're still a kid! That's why I've hooked myself on… you…"

"Touko…"

"You're so different from the others, N… I-I like that! It's nice to have you always at my side! You make me smile, even in adverse circumstances!"

"That's funny! I feel the same way about you!"

Up until then, the teenagers were promenading along the street that led to the Amusement Park. They stopped before its closed gate and stared at the famous Ferris Wheel through the main entrance. They remained silent for a while, organizing thoughts. N leaned forward as he placed his arms through the cold bars of the gate for support and kept looking at the mechanical device.

"Unfortunately… I can't see its fantastic circular motion…"

"And there he goes again…"

"Does it annoy you?"

"You know, N… you're too smart for me to handle. It's annoying since I can't keep up with you! I don't know about formulas, physics, math… "

"I'm sorry, then. I didn't know it really bugs you…"

"Yeah…" She agreed but widened her eyes and changed her mind. "No, no! It's not that irritating! If you want to talk about it, then go ahead! Just don't expect me to like these things…"

"Alright, I understood! You just had to see the mulish look on your heavy face right now!"

"Oh, thank you! Where did you learn to pay a compliment so well?" Touko replied sarcastically.

"Was it a compliment?"

"Of course it wasn't, foolish boy! I was being sarcastic!"

"Ah… then does it mean that I… said something wrong?" N frowned and Touko laughed herself silly.

"You're the only one who can make me laugh like this after all I've been through today, N!"

"Now it was a compliment!" A genuine smile crept across his face as it lit.

"Hmmm, somewhat…"

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, N Harmonia!"

And they kept on goofing around and talking about things that wouldn't add much to the story. As they chatted by the gate, N sighted the blonde Leader from Nimbasa City in front of her Gym. She seemed relaxed while talking to someone on the phone. The woman didn't take notice of the teenager's presence as she continued to prattle.

"Hey, Touko, Touko… Isn't that… the Gym Leader Elesa?"

"Hm?" The brunette turned around and nodded. "It's her! What is she doing there?"

"I don't know, but… looks like she's on the phone…"

"Ohh… I was about to holler so that we could get her attention…"

"That wouldn't be nice! She's already talking with someone else!"

"I knoooow! That's exactly why I didn't do this!"

The blonde tall woman finished the conversation and looked at the starry sky for some time. She was standing there, whispering and humming melodically. Then she heard a loud whistle and looked everywhere around her, finding two teenagers waving at her by the main entrance of the Park. She smiled when she immediately recognized those familiar faces and hurried herself to meet them.

"Oh, Touko! Touko! How have you been? Oh Gosh! And you, N! You really changed your mind, I'm so glad! Skyla told me everything!" Elesa uttered happily with shaky hands unlatching the yet closed gate.

"I have been doing okay recently, thanks! It's nice to know that Skyla made you aware of this! It spares me the trouble of telling everything again!" Touko replied as the Gym Leader hugged her eagerly.

"Yeah… it must really be a bit of a nuisance having to explain this story to people as you go meeting them one at a time…. see… not to mention those who don't wanna believe that this young lad here has changed!" The Gym Leader patted his back gently and he nervously flashed a smile at her in return.

"Beware! He's still an anti-social critter!" The brunette teased him because of the way he was acting.

"What? Unsay this absurd!" N glared at her but she didn't give a damn.

"Your relationship is very modern! A short time ago the lovers used to treat each other so tenderly… is this really how you treat your boyfriend, Touko?"

"No! He's not my boyfriend! He's only a…" The young girl answered promptly though she was loath to admit it. Sheer silence came about with great surprise when N took Elesa aside into the Park.

Touko suddenly felt ill, like she was chilling from the pit of her stomach to the tip of her fingers. She winced nastily at the sight of N grabbing the other girl by the arm and taking her somewhere else. It made her eyes water while she held her breath. She felt deserted and sick, all flushed with fever. She felt like she was coming down with something, but it wasn't a disease, it was only something called jealousy. She came undone watching them chatting.

'What was that for? Is he trying to make me… jealous?' The young girl thought and shook her head. 'Of course he's not gonna get what he wants! I'm NOT jealous!' Her face wore glum, downcast expression as she went on. 'But… what if he's interested in her? She's a model, she's famous and rich… and prettier than me… on the other hand, N's a young naïve man who's been learning about love, women and human relations only recently… that's for sure he'll let the new man that dwells deep inside of him take that innocent boy over and…"

"TOUKOOOOOOO…" Her own name cut her off.

"Wha? Elesa?" Touko quickly tried to wipe some tears, which were yet to fall.

"What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost! Your lips are as white as a sheet!"

"I-I'm fine, really! Just rather cold…"

"Hmm, you know… N asked me to help him with something and I instantly had an idea… so, Touko… would you like to go for a ride on the Ferris wheel?"

"…" The reply came as silently as a battle between a Slowpoke and a Metapod in a state of sleep, to boot. She opened her mouth and articulated the words but for some reason they weren't coming out.

"I know! You got so stirred by emotion that you choked up! How cute! Come with me!" The Electric-type Pokemon Leader snatched at her arm and took her into the Park as well. "This will be soooooooo romantic! I'll tell the engineer to turn its power on right away!"

"WAIT? WHAT'S THIS, ELESA? LOOK AT THE TIME! THIS MAN MIGHT BE SOUND ASLEEP BY NOW!"

"Oh, don't worry about him, dear! That's his job, he works for me! Now don't sit back and close in for the kill!" Elesa gave her a shove in the back causing the girl to stumble to N by force. She would fall anyway, but instead of falling to the ground, she fell into N's arms. She clung to this body and slowly looked up with eyes closed. She didn't dare to open them because she felt how close N was.

She fidgeted into his embrace, her muscles all tense and rigid.

"Touko? What happened? You're so scared stiff!"

"I-I'm not scared, N! I just wasn't expecting you to catch me like this… it looks like a cinema scene…"

"It's the real thing, Touko. Not a mere imitation of life… it's even better than a cinema scene!"

"I know, I know… It happened to pop up in my mind because it turned out to look so cliché…"

"Cliché? Why? You were about to fall over, I wouldn't let you get hurt!"

"Ah, N! You don't understand! Let's go home and catch some z's! That's aaaaaaaall I need!" The brunette pulled away and turned on her heel, but N suddenly grabbed at her.

"Don't do this! I must talk to you! It's important, no laughing matter!"

"I'm tired, N! Save it! Please, have pity on me! I just wanna sleep this black day off!"

"Touko, I'm afraid it can't wait! Today I… I realized…"

"Not now! My head aches… and a still tongue keeps a wise head!"

This was when some lampposts lit the Park up, especially the area surrounding the Ferris Wheel, which was starting to move slowly. A little bit far from them, Elesa stood, earning a thumb up from N who was delighted with the scenery.

"N Harmonia… what are you planning?"

"You're not going to find out if you don't come with me!"

Touko smiled and giggled out of infatuation.

"Fine… I'll give it a shot!"

At first, N thought that changing her mind would be like getting blood out of a stone. When he had her consent, his heart pounded crazily in his chest for the pleasant surprise. His face was beaming effortlessly as he took her to the Poke Ball-like seat.

"Sooo… here we are!"

"Yes! Fortunately, I tried my luck!"

The Ferris Wheel rotated gracefully, slowly taking them to its highest position. Wonder shone in Touko's eyes at the sight of the scintillating stars. They fell quiet for a while, enjoying the magical moment, again.

"It didn't feel so good like this on the first time we came here…" The young man whispered leaning his back comfortably against the seat, folding his arms behind his head.

"That's cute, N!"

His cheeks colored up a bit and he tried to hide them by lowering his head. The brunette watched him in amusement, smiling broadly. He felt somehow uncomfortable by the way that her eyes were glued to him.

"Hey, N…" She lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's the matter?"

"Touko I… I know you're exhausted so I shall sum up the main points of my speech…"

"Don't worry! It won't bother me any, just take your time!"

"Well… fine, then. Hmm… you know it's not much time since I returned to UNOVA, nevertheless I've been able to learn some things from the bottom up with you and your acquaintances, friends, family… things I never knew before… a whole new world to me! It gave me samples to better consider this subject in details… after a thorough examination, I finally came to a conclusion today. It was when Cheren said that… Touya loves you… this was what he meant with "owner of his heart"!"

"Oh, no… that's the last subject in the world I'd like to discuss at the moment!"

"Still I need to know… just tell me…" He started to stutter, stumble and then he searched for the words inside his head. He was losing heart and slow off the mark like his own already-made speech had left him in the lurch. However, he knew exactly what he wanted to ask.

"Tell you what?" She slipped on her butt to the edge of her seat, and curved herself forward, her eyes penetrating deeply through his.

"Do you… do you love your friend Touya?"

Touko almost fell over with no touchable ground underneath her feet, whether by the numbness that had just kicked in, since her blood started running cold, or the confusing state that caused a trance as she was flummoxed by his unfounded question. She blinked a couple times, gaping.

"Touko?"

She snapped out of the trance.

"I beg your pardon! I'm feeling muzzy… that must be because I'm feeling amazingly sleepy… thus, I can't seem to understand you!"

"Well… I'm sorry, then… for wasting your time while you're about to zonk out right here and right now…"

The brunette burst out laughing in a somewhat freaky way and it almost frightened the life out of N.

"You're sooo funny, N!" She yelled among noisy laughs, crying for joy. "I… I thought I heard you asking me if I was in love with Touya!"

In a humorous way, this scene could be described as Touko laughing nonstop as the days go by. The sun would rise and fall, and the moon would show up while the daystar's gone. Of course, in a nonliteral language. The young girl was boring him silly with this.

N looked down steadily, tapping at the ground with his left foot in frustration.

"This was what I meant…" He slurred his response to himself and massaged his forehead.

"What? So… I didn't mishear?"

"This is it, Touko! You heard correctly! Why were you laughing?"

"I can't believe, N!"

"You got nervous! Isn't that how people act when they're in love?"

"Alright… that's enough! Don't you dare to play a joke on me! I don't like it!"

"No joke, Touko! Look at me already! I'm dead-serious!"

"Things were going great between us, then… the fat hit the fire and you managed to cock everything up!"

"You're just making it harder than it actually is! Just answer me plain and simple! Still, you keep on giving it a wide berth instead of answering!"

"I DON'T LOVE HIM! I DON'T! Is that what you want? Or you want me to lie?"

"With all due respect, I don't know if you're already lying…"

"Oh, really! Very well! So I'm not a trustworthy friend! I have to admit it went nice while I tried to be your friend and you PRETENDED to be mine… just make sure to pack your belongings as soon as we get home and book out!"

"Wait, wait Touko… why are you biting my head off? I just needed to know since Touya likes you…"

The brunette stopped yelling and came even closer.

"Why are you so concerned?" Her voice now was so soft that they could have heard a pin drop better.

"Because I want to know… what you gonna do now…"

"Now what?"

"That you know the truth… what Cheren said back at the Café…"

"N… that's not the truth! Cheren's totally wrong! I know them enough to state this with conviction! And Bianca… poor little girl… she doesn't deserve to hear such a big lie! But I'm pretty sure Touya will fix it!"

"Yeah…"

"I sense you're not convinced yet…"

"I doubt that someone like you has no one to love… why wouldn't you fall in love with a friend? With Touya? Owner of all those praises and grandiose statements…"

"Have you ever considered me being in love with someone else?"

Touko smiled confidently, looking up at him as she crouched next to his long legs.

"Who?" He bent forward to her unerect body at his legs.

"I see you're no good at guessing, N! That's why you thought I loved Touya!" She chuckled dryly.

"Cheren?"

"Oh, good grief!" He made her bust a gut laughing again. "Who will be the next one?"

"What's so funny?"

"I love how you're too naïve and get things wrongs consequently! It's hilarious!"

"I shouldn't have asked you this!" He slapped his face and hid it in shame.

"Stop making me laugh! My stomach is hurting so bad for doing so!"

"Touko, it's not my fault! It doesn't matter whether I'm serious or not, you're gonna split your sides with laughter anyway!"

"Hahaha… you're right, N, I'm sorry…"

"I honestly can't understand you! You have mood swings all the time! At times you're exhausted, at times you're ecstatic… then sad, frustrated, confident, angry, embarrassed, happy, frightened, anxious, shocked, bored… phew! What a temper! See, I'm simply the opposite… by living with you I can only be confused all the time!"

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"Confused and r-i-d-i-c-u-l-o-u-s!"

"Hey! Why are you always hurling insults at me?"

Touko breathed deeply and placed her hands on her face as regret started to hit her.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" She sat beside him and let out a puff of air. "I don't know why… the reason why I'm always like that with you… in fact, I'm really a hot-headed person, always beside myself! I know… but you're the only one who can trigger it off along with all that mood swings!"

"Why? Am I that bad?"

"Absolutely not." She whispered, tenderly stroking his arm. He turned to her and their noses touched delicately. The young girl could see nothing but his attractive eyes right immediately before hers. They shivered as the warmth of each other's breath was filling the narrow space there barely was between them.

She aimed at his lips, setting aside the world around her. She had him right there, so vulnerable yet so defiant. Now it wasn't time to row back as it used to happen before. Besides, there was no one to chill her action. Coming to think of it, everything was favorable.

Oh! And they were also riding the Ferris Wheel! It totally can't get any better! That's the kind of situation when people think "today's the day!"

And here today, gone tomorrow. Why let it go?

She was not stupid.

There are circumstances where words are useless. Just push ahead on whatever it is.

Perplexed, N would probably ask her something frustrating were it not for his yet unknown desire that even stopped him from thinking about a question. He left his mouth ajar in confusion and anxiety, it was inviting and Touko plunged her lips into his with impetuosity.

Though the night seemed perfect for the kiss, together they didn't measure up. Instead of closing his eyes N kept them wide open, as Touko could notice by peeping through her partially closed eyes at him. She frowned and murmured onto his stiff lips, trying to make him focus on what she was doing. He murmured back, surprised because he really thought that people emitted a strange muffled sound while kissing. And they went on, things only getting worse. When N's sounds started to annoy Touko beyond her own acceptable limits, she pulled away.

"What's that, N? Are you feeling ill or something?"

"No. I'm perfectly fine. Perhaps you're the one who suffers from a relatively permanent disorder of the mind! You were just now telling me that you love someone else and then you… kiss me…"

"I'd rather kiss a boarder, N! It surely would kiss me better! And it also would get the hang of it better than you!" She stooped slightly when she stood up to leave the place. "The ride is over! Let's go!"

"Wait Touko, I… I'm just… confused." He explained disappointed, stepping out of the Poke Ball-like seat.

"You'd better keep still about what happened here! And you shall start now!" She wisely decided to cut and run, rather than face more of an embarrassing situation.

"I… do I have to apologize?"

"Just shut up!"

N swallowed thickly and hardly forced himself to total silence since he could even talk under wet cement.

Not so far forward, stood the elegant model and a brawny athletic man towering over her. They were chewing the rag to distraction under the moonlight. Touko tried to be careful as soon as she took sight of them, not to butt in on their pleasant conversation. The young girl turned to the upset figure behind her and stretched her index finger in front of her mouth, shushing him, because he had been kicking a can of soda thus far. He twisted his mouth in annoyance and left the cylindrical metal container alone. He wanted to show her how distressed he was.

"You know… If I were a bird Pokemon I would be with my feathers all ruffled right now cause I'm really pissed off!" He murmured at her ear, thinking it was the most suitable way to express his increasing vexation.

"Oh, really? So, if you were a bird Pokemon, I'd like to be a rock-type, electric-type or even an ice-type Pokemon so that I'd be able to use super effective moves against you and knock you out, one-hit K.O.! This way you'd have no choice but to be dead quiet!" She replied, thinking likewise. He raised one single brow and pouted, withdrawing silently as after being defeated. When did she get to be so bull-headed?

They managed to leave the Amusement Park without being noticed, like they were wearing an invisible cloak. N was still agitated, immensely frustrated. The more he thought, the more he tied himself up in knots overthis peculiar incident.

'It has something to do with the kiss! I'm quite positive about it! She dared to compare me to a board! How senseless… I need to brush up my kissing skills a little bit…and then… next time, I'll get her speechless! She'll ask for more! None can ever underestimate me!' He passed by her with a swaggering gait and proceeded towards the Pokemon Center.

'By Golly! What's his problem?' She rolled her eyes and shook her head in response.

"You shall stay here for the night!" The young man rapped out at the sliding glass door. "It's time for kids to go to bed!"

"I agree! You should dive in the arms of Morpheus!" She giggled, taking the lead again.

"Excuse-me… you're younger than me! I was talking about you!"

"Oh, very laughable! Age means nothing when your mentality doesn't equate!"

"Of course it doesn't! Only math is a perfectly exact science!"

"Don't change the subject!"

"You made a start on this foolish arguing! As always!"

"Everything I say always turns out to be extremely polemical to you! "

"Okay, Touko! Keep your valuable opinion to yourself! I'm outta here!"

"Go! I don't care!" The young female trainer mouthed off and turned her back to him, swinging her hips as she walked over to the nurse. One, two… three steps at the most. Then she wheeled around quickly to face him. "Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going?"

"Why should I say? You don't care anyway…" He teased, pockets were stuffed with his cold hands.

"Yeah… but… you're right I don't care! I'm just a bit worried! You know nothing about life, let alone the night life!"

"No problem. I'm a fast learner!"

"N!"

"What!"

"Look at me! NOW! I'm talking to you!"

Slowly, he obeyed.

"What now, Touko?" He said with a fishy look staring reluctantly at her. The brunette couldn't help feeling sick at heart as she stared back.

"Please, stay! That's the last time I'll bother you… I promise…"

"The last time for today? I won't believe you if you say that's for forever!"

"Yeah, I… stop, N, please! I'm trying to be nice, hun?"

"Alright… I'm just kidding!" He smiled gently and patted her back. She felt relieved.

"Cool! Let's go!"

"Did I say I was going with you?"

"…"

"There's a condition!"

"What?"

"I'll go… if you help me improve my kissing skills!"

"You want me to…"

"Practice with me!"

"Well… why do you need practice? I think… it comes naturally… just let it flow!"

"Then let me try again! I wasn't prepared that time!"

"D-Don't you want to wait out this situation? You may be able to face it easier later…"

"Sorry, Touko, I really can't wait! I'm very eager! I like to try new things! And since I wasn't successful when I tried my hand at kissing…"

His shaky hands touched her flushed cheeks gently, his thumbs stroking them softly. She felt an amazing flow of electric charge running past each cell of her body, causing her to shiver. 'Where did he learn this?' was all she had on mind. Wherever he got to learn it, she would thank it for a lifetime.

Touko took two steps back for every step N took forward, only stopping when her dorsum finally met the cold wall of the Pokemon Center.

"Why are you fleeing?"

"Honestly… I don't know…"

"I see… you don't want to kiss me…"

"It's not that! I'm a tad uncomfortable…"

"Fine…"

He popped the clutch on her arms and scratched his head. "I'm sorry… I wasn't supposed to force me on you!"

"What are you talking about? Did you hear me saying 'I don't want it?'"

"No, not verbally. However, actions speak louder than words. Let's go in and see if we can still find a nice bed to sleep on for the night."

He disappeared as the automatic door closed. His silhouette was just a blurry shape through the glass. Touko remained outside, cuddling up to the wall, reflecting on her life.

…

"I really do know what I'm talking about, and if you don't agree, you had better have another think!"

"YOU'D BETTER have another think! To me, it's still a shot in the dark! Touya and Touko…" Skyla firmly shook her head. "I'm sure he doesn't have feelings for her! She even bears a strong resemblance to Touya! She could perfectly pose as his sister!"

"This is totally off the wall! Okay, Skyla! Go thinking whatever you want! What I had to do… is already done anyway!"

"What?" The gym leader stretched her neck forward with eyes wide open. "We got bogged down in coming up with a solution to our problems here!" She frowned and he smiled quietly.

"It's on!"

"What the… are you crazy in the head, boy? I can't make heads or tails of what you're saying!"

"You're so slow-witted!" Cheren adjusted his glasses for the thousandth time that day. "Try to understand cause I'm on my last legs! So, Skyla… I'm sure Bianca will finally drop Touya tonight!"

"Hm? I'm surprised that HE didn't drop HER first!" She rubbed her chin. "Well, well… isn't that a marvelous information!" The woman laughed loudly. "Wait! How do you know this?"

"It's simple! They were here!"

"Oh!"

"And they heard everything!"

"Cheren… how… they were here?"

"Yes. Touya, Bianca, Touko and N."

Skyla stood up and searched for them, looking everywhere in the Café without leaving their table.

"Are you going nuts? They're definitely not here!"

"Exactly, they're not here. They WERE here!"

"And… you… you didn't tell me!"

"Wasn't a plan all that you wanted?"

"…"

"…"

The brief absence of sound between them helped her get the message.

"Oh, oh, my goodness! I-I got it! You're brilliant! Your idea was a stroke of genius!" She got up again, hitting both hands on the table noisily. "I knew I could count on you! I was right!"

"Still, I had no nasty intentions in doing so!"

"Oh, really? The road to hell is paved with good intentions…"

"I'm serious! Let me explain… in case you're wondering, I really didn't know they intended to secretly come here and listen in on us! Then, I heard Touko's voice and started to suspect… remember when we were talking and I suddenly cut it off, saying that I needed to solve a problem… you became very confused when I came back sweating bullets, you asked me what was going on and I changed the subject…"

"Oh, yes, I do remember! And I'm still confused!"

"I was apprehensive because I didn't know what to do next… I figured out that my friends were doing to me something I've never approved, I got shattered and disappointed on them. I really didn't know what to think at the exact moment… what I should do when I… I saw Bianca hiding under the table… she's unable to do it since she can't hide her… large hips… and err… some other thing she has that's too big…"

The gym leader rolled her eyes at him. "How relevant!"

"That's totally relevant! I could only realize what was going on here because of this detail you're neglecting!"

"Yes, right… since she's just a clumsy dolt!"

"And you're just a loveless young woman! Too pitiful!"

"You've proven being worthy of my friendship! Don't make me turn against you now!" She glanced at him, sticking her nose up in the air. "I'll go easy on you cause you just made today the best day ever! Please, go on!"

"Right. Summing up… I had this great idea and decided to send it forth with the plan… that was when I started to talk about my friends, each one of them, in such a sentimental manner, because they know I wouldn't ever tell them those things. It was just to reinforce the impression of my credulousness on them."

"You're unbelievable!"

"They simply thought they were deceiving me while I was plotting to turn the tables on them! Well, back to Bianca and Touya… I can't let him make a fool of her, promising the moon and the earth without loving her!"

"So… you think he just took pity on her and that's why they're together?"

"He likes her as a friend. That's all there is. However I can see that he bends over backwards for her all the time… he's trying so hard, but he can't forget Touko! I needed to do something about this, just like Touya did! If I were to take her aside and tell everything, she wouldn't believe me! Then, when I saw them there… that was finally my chance! I was ready to show them all the truth without a shadow of a doubt!" Cheren breathed deeply and smiled slightly, standing up and stretching his arm toward her. "That's it. Let's wait and see. I'm pleased to know you better, Skyla!"

"You're no more pleased than I am! Thank you for this w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l night!" The gym leader stood up as well, and they shook hands. "Let's meet up again anytime! Next time, we'll celebrate our success!"

He just kept his usual subtle smile on his face and adjusted his glasses for the first thousandth time that day.

….

Arriving home, in Nuvema Town, was refreshing after a traumatic night out, just as Bianca had remarked. The first beams of sunlight were already coming, inviting everyone to a brand new day. The drowsy blonde girl felt their warmth on her face, along with the gentle breeze of the ocean that lies close at hand and smiled quietly, as this combination was reassuring her. She fell asleep in the car while they were coming back and now she woke up to deal with more conflicting situations, like she was living a nightmare. The young girl winced and wrapped her boyfriend's jacket tightly around her, showing Touya that she finally came to.

"Good morning, my sunshine!" He said happily, glancing at her quickly and turning his attention back to the road.

"Good morning…" She answered sluggishly, without looking at him.

"Know where we are? Right in front of your house!" The good-looking boy stepped out of the car, made his way around it to the passenger's side and opened the door for her to get out. She stared at him blankly, all she had on her mind was a huge question mark.

'How can he look so exhausted yet so sexy? How can he look so sexy in everything he does? He's flawless… why? why? How can I ever forget him?'

"Are you alright, angel?"

"Yeah, I… my legs feel numb… no problem at all!"

He didn't think twice and took the girl, carrying her in his arms like a prince would carry his damsel. Once the buzzer was pushed at the outer door, a pretty blonde woman immediately appeared before them. She looked worried.

"For heaven's sake! Where have you been? Please, come in, Touya!"

"No need to be alarmed, Mrs. Noir! She's fine!"

"Bianca! Do you want to kill me, little miss? Oh, dear… thank you, Touya! You're always taking good care of her!"

"It's ok. I'm always glad to see her safe and sound. I'd do anything for this! Oh, by the way… how is Professor Juniper?"

"She's fine! I heard that she had a terrible headache yesterday, but she's the picture of good health now!"

"I'm glad to hear this! I'll drop by the lab and visit her!"

"Yes! Do it, Touya! Do it for me! I want to see her but I can't since I haven't been in the best of health lately…" Bianca stated weakly.

"What do you have, sweetheart?" The woman asked, worried sick about her daughter.

"I'm alright, mom! I'm just tired, but not to worry!" She winked at her boyfriend because he agreed upon not letting her mother know what happened on the last night.

"All she needs is a nice rest now and she's gonna feel brand new when she wakes up!" He winked back at her, hearing the woman gasp in relief.

"Well, I'll get you a glass of water!"

The woman beamed at him and left them alone in the living room, her voice echoing in the house as she made her way to the kitchen, singing.

"Go home, Touya. Your mother must be worried as well!"

"No, she's not. I'm a strong man, not a fragile girl!" He bent forward towards her, and gently pinched her nose. The blonde girl puffed up her cheeks in response. "You're too cute to be true, honey!"

"Don't think I'm gonna forget!"

"What? How Cheren's so delusional? I won't forget this either!"

"You're too much!" She couldn't help laughing. "But we shall talk this over! Come see me later, we both need some rest by now!"

"Guess you're right!" He pecked her lips and shuffled reluctantly to the door. He came back and murmured at her ear. "Looks like your father isn't home! Don't you want to sleep with me?" Now, the playful boy moggied off grinning widely when he heard the footsteps of Bianca's mother. She giggled as she watched him go away.

….

Later, in the middle of the afternoon, the brown-haired boy went to his girlfriend's house again that day. He recovered from fatigue, coming back there rested. Once the door was opened, his pleasant odor filled the air with the woody-scent fragrance of his perfume, aromatic flowers and a chocolate box containing both white and milk chocolate in his hand to blend in. The wrapping was impeccably labored with colored curled ribbons adorning it beautifully, threatening to fall all the time, nevertheless firmly attached to the box.

People would think that he'd set out his stall to convince her with blandishments, pinning hopes on some candies that probably will be quickly eaten by her and flowers, meant to die in a few days, even with proper care. Why is it normal to use those sorts of things to represent love? Feelings? If they're gonna soon disappear? Anyway, it's just a common practice. Still, he had been reflecting on this for a while before buying them.

And so as to make him even more irresistible, he came more handsome than ever. Standing at the doorway of her bedroom, he silently admired her. She was staring fixedly at a picture in her hands, sitting on her bed, in a silky nightwear.

Touya drew near and sat beside her, curious to know what his lover was regarding with so much affection. Bianca felt him there, with her, and cried even more, lightly stroking the picture exactly where her boyfriend was. He waited until he could hand over the flowers and the chocolate, earning a graceful smile from her as the delicious scent of the flowers breathed new life into the dim room. Slowly, she rested her head on his shoulder, and he hugged her.

"You fine?"

"If your question concerns health, I am. If it doesn't, I'm not."

"So, this makes me half happy only."

"Touya…" She started to weep harder. "Will you ever… forgive me?"

"Forgive you? Why, darling?"

"Because…"

"Y-Yes…?" He held her tighter, nervous and confused.

"I'll…" And she held her breath, to prevent hiccups. "I decided to… I'm leaving you, my love!"

"WHAT?"

"We need some time… I need time away… we're definitely moving to Sinnoh, Touya!"

"You can't do this to me!"

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry! I thought through all the pros and cons before reaching this decision…"

"Think again! Bianca… this won't help us!"

"I'm not sure if that's what I really should do, but ought to try! This is for the best!"

"How? Dealing with the distance every single day from now on?"

"I know! It hurts me too, Touya! Living so far away from my friends… I'll be all alone, and maybe I'll have to start my life all over again…"

"You can't be serious…" He jumped out of her bed and paced back and forth in the room, messing his hair. She went after him and took his hands in hers.

"You always told me to be strong! You taught me how to release my fears, how to make my opinion prevail when I'm right! You saw how I handled myself there, in front of my father yesterday, when you took me home to talk to him! I refused to go and live with my family in Pastoria City just because you egged me on! You made me what I am today, Touya! I owe it all to you…"

"Then… why you changed your mind?"

"Because I won't hold me down anymore… I must face life. I wanna gad around! And if I were to live somewhere I've never been before… I'd see life through a new perspective! Moreover… I'd mellow out and forget those rotten times I had here!"

"And what about the good times?"

"Of course those I won't forget, Touya! I'm talking about my frustrated attempts of finding my perfect match! First, Cheren thwarted my plans… now, it's happening again! I was fooled again!"

"I'm not fooling you! This means I've never lied to you!"

"STOP IT! I won't fall for it hook, line and sinker again! I won't believe any word you say! Cheren found out that you are sweet on Touko instead of me!"

"IT'S A FRIGGING LIE!"

"Touya, don't… let's just be friends for now! Let's go back to our good times!"

"Even if you weren't going to live so far away from me, it'd be impossible!"

"But… why?"

"I don't wanna be friends with someone that doesn't trust me!"

"…"

"Is this how we say goodbye? It's all up to you."

"I'm sorry, Touya. Just try to understand me…"

He slowly took her hands off of him, looking sideways not to show his eyes starting to water. He turned abruptly and walked away silently, in shock.

"I I-LOVE YOU!" Bianca yelled and he stopped. He didn't turn around, but he turned his head, not looking at her. She remained frozen where she was, breathing heavily.

"I'm sorry… but I don't believe you, Bianca… I'm doing this cause I want you to know how it feels like to hear these words when you're telling the truth…"

"…" She was left speechless, sobbing quietly, watching him stepping out of her room.

Maybe, for the last time.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, that's it! Thank you soooo much for everything!<strong>

**S2**

**See ya!**


	16. Chapter 15

I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 15<strong>

Bianca would leave in a week. It was impossible to be earlier since Mr. Noir's new boss was still arranging the last pending details for his arrival, nothing less cause he had hired him away from his previous employer.

Time went by leaving behind many important occurrences that remained in the past and also ongoing events. So, it was time to tie up the loose ends while the blonde girl was still there, making an issue of her.

This week, N had suggested Touko, Touya and Bianca release the legendary trio, after the Professor detailed study. The teenagers fought the idea at first but took heed of the young King's advice when he said that they had to take care of nature from now on, starting off on the Abundant Shrine, which was now no more than a massive havoc wreaked after the last battle. Landorus, hailed as "The guardian of the Fields", has the power to make the land abundant and raise crops by increasing the nutrition in the soil, as Professor Juniper could gladly attest to. The youngsters had been helping the woman with her research these days, and as soon as they were done, they all headed to the Shrine intending to release the creatures, though it hurt badly. It's not that the legendary Pokemon had a lifetime to befriend their trainers, even so, they were able to grow fond of them, in spite of their complicated natures. They watched in wonder how Landorus restored the place to its original state in a split second. After this, the creatures said goodbye in a very special way, a way that brought tears to their eyes. Then, supporting waifs and homeless families was the next step for them. They did all they could to help these people.

It was a long week indeed. Still it passed so quickly, particularly for Bianca and Touya. About a week ago they broke up their relationship and pretended that they were on good terms for everyone else, not to shock or alarm them. But at night, sheltered inside their warm rooms, they didn't have to pretend. So they cried, cried themselves to sleep.

And the day finally came, the time still coming. Just a few more hours to Bianca's departure. If she'll ever be back, no one knows. And this is what saddened the most.

The small Town was losing one of its most remarkable families, and a girl who had a dream: Making that modest Town get really proud of her. Life's too short, and passes us by, time goes on without us. It changes our courses when we least expect. So, living means inconstancy, just hope for the best and prepare for the worst. That's what happened to Bianca Noir. She thought for a moment that everything would be always the same and had the shock of her life.

That morning she still had her best girlfriend close by. Touko was loath to help her when she was almost done with her luggage, because all she wanted was to gather strength and toss that mean object up, so that Bianca's clothes would be scattered everywhere in her room. Just like it ought to be. They found it would be better to just talk idly, brushing aside doleful matters, nevertheless, each cloth placed in the travelling bag was another wound to their hearts.

Putting on her the shoulder strap of the satchel and dragging her wheeled suitcase by the extending handle over to Touko, the blonde girl sadly murmured "Au revoir" while wrapping her arms around the brunette. This time she gave her a different hug. Because Touko could breathe. Even so, she wasn't willing to.

Cheren and his family, Professor Juniper and her assistants, Mrs. White and Mrs. Black were waiting for her downstairs. Some other acquaintances were milling around in front of the house, also rounding more people up. Touya had found a reasonable excuse to explain why he wouldn't join the others, not to make people hazard a guess.

Even though she had a lot on her mind at the moment, she still had a space there for Touya. A private space for him. Only his. She smiled sadly at everybody down there at the living room, they were waiting for her to show up.

Touya was missing out on the parting of the ways and it struck a blow against his ex-girlfriend. How could he? Isn't he her friend after all? It was like all the time they spent together, since the very first day, had turned to dust. For all that suffering, she shed extra tears for him, thinking how did it end up that way. She was so emotionally destroyed that Touko had to prop the girl up against her own self, and aid her in getting downstairs. Seeing that, Cheren immediately made his way to them and gave his friends a helping hand. He couldn't help blushing at the touch, when the blonde girl grabbed him tightly as she floundered down the stairs.

Facing all that leave-taking ritual only made it worse. So worse that she started to pray silently, praying that she could go away right off. She had to hug everybody, and hear sweet things that they had to say about her, all those things you dread to go through in leaving beloved people.

The taxi was already waiting outside with her mother jamming herself into the vehicle, luggage and stuff everywhere. She was struggling to talk to Mrs. White, Mrs. Black and Mrs. Komor, as they were helping her fit in there.

And now, this is it. Bianca hugged both of her childhood friends as a local strong man with his Sawk were stowing bags in the trunk of the car. They all wept copiously.

"That's it, dear friends… I'll never… I'll never forget you! Ever!" The blonde girl said with intense difficulty.

"It hasn't sunk in much yet… you know we just can't seem to realize it while waiting for the other shoe to drop… this can't be happening!" Touko stroked her friend, feeling tears welling up again and gestured to them to show that she was totally unable to speak further.

Cheren placed his forehead to Bianca's as he also rubbed tenderly Touko's arm for solace. He chucked softly the blonde girl under the chin with his other hand as he spoke.

"You've got a limited time away. After expiration date I swear I'm gonna bring you back! Right now, I'm already longing to see you…" The young boy caressed her face gently, along with the calm breeze. "Think about… those things I told you… and… how I want to make you happy…"

"Cheren, please…"

"Come on, Cheren! I knew you wouldn't let the chance slip by! We're all fretting over her departure and you do what? You're making advances at her so nonchalantly!"

"It's fine, Touko. Don't grieve over me… I'll be alright! It also may do away with all this lament for a moment…"

"Honey, let's go!" Mrs. Noir announced out loud that the time had come.

"Ok, dear… just… drop in on your old friends…" The brunette hugged the other girl again, a little bit longer, crying together and murmuring muffled things in unison. "We love you, Bianca! I'm saying this on the part of Touya as well…"

"…" She breathed. "Thank you, Touko! Thank you, Cheren…" She looked at everybody around her. "Thank you, guys! I love you! Thank you for everything!" She waved at the crowd, bowing a couple times as they paid tribute to her and her family with thunderous applause.

Wiping tears away with her arm, she slowly made her way to the taxi, smiling, waving and blowing kisses to her friends and also randomly. Mr. Noir was talking to the driver, and didn't notice the young girl approaching. She just frowned and placed a finger on her lips while studying a way to squeeze herself into the car.

"I'd take it as a sign not to go anywhere."

Bianca froze after hearing this. Not exactly at what had been said, but at the voice recognition. Her eyes watered again.

"I thought… you weren't coming…"

"Yes… maybe I shouldn't have come…"

"…"

"…"

"Why did you come here? I w-was… I was starting to feel a tad comfortable with…"

"Guess it takes some getting used to, but… you'll make it. After all, you chose this way…"

"Don't talk to me like that!"

"I said something wrong?"

"…" She stopped breathing for a while and then, she sighed. "No…"

"Good… now, look at me."

"I don't w-want to…"

"Bianca…"

"Leave me alone, Touya! If I turn around and look at you I'll probably change my min-…" She gasped when his hands spun her around to him. Her eyes couldn't choose but stare firmly into his.

"Changed already?"

"Don't do this to me…"

"Do you really wanna go?"

"Touya…"

"Answer!"

"I…" The girl averted his eyes by looking down, between them.

"Touya!" Mr. Noir pulled his son-in law towards him and patted the young boy on the back vigorously. "Where were you? I'm afraid we're parting now!"

"Still I'm glad to have caught you up in time!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Poppa, though I think you noticed… I was talking to your daughter… and we need some space here…" Touya glared at the man, who was now smothering the couple with his arms. "Also literally, please!"

"Oh… I'm sorry!"

"You sure take after your father!" He said looking at the blonde girl, who was gasping for air as well.

"Okay, now, we shall go…" The man grabbed his daughter's arm and wanted to drag her along. She looked at her lover, her pretty face all gloomy with despair.

"Wait, wait, wait! I'm not done yet!" Touya yelled, furrowing his brows.

"What?" Mr. Noir turned his way with a baleful look coming into view. "Heavy traffic may delay us on our way to Castelia City! I don't need to waste more time seeing you dig your heels in, kiddo!"

When Cheren and Touko realized what was going on they decided to distract the crowd.

"Oh no! Looks like Touya is going to kick up a fuss about it! Cheren, what will we do?"

"… A Pokemon battle?"

"What a pathetic idea! A battle now?"

"I see no problem there! If you choose your Zekrom I'm sure we'll…"

"Yes, of course! And we will draw even UNNECESSARY attentions to us!

"Fine, fine… then… time for plan B!"

"Yes, yes… spill it, quick!"

"Where's N in the only situation we need him?"

"PARDON-ME?"

"People will get all alarmed if he shows up! That's an option! Maybe the police will come and arrest him…"

"Correcting… the police will arrest ME when I kill YOU!" Touko clenched her hands into fists and threatened her friend.

"What's that Touko? No violence! I'm kidding…" He shambled backwards, lifting his arms with open hands turned to the choleric girl.

The way they were acting was, itself, the distraction they were looking for.

"By doing as you said, I run the risk of missing my voyage to SINNOH Region!"

"Dad, please! Let me talk to h-"

"Shhh! I had enough of these pests ganging up on me through all of these years! Let's hit the road!"

"You don't have the right to be lofty with her! You're only her father, not her owner!" Touya made for Bianca's side wearing his usual non-compliant expression.

"Oh!" The man clapped loudly. "I'm impressed! I can hardly wait to get rid of this terrible headache that's you! You don't know how much it nags at my mind when my dear princess is wasting her precious time with a little tr-…"

"Hold your tongue, Mr. Noir! You have said enough!" Mrs. Black walked over to her son, providing some warm maternal protectiveness to him. "Let's handle this situation as two civilized adults! I know your principles go against my son's, nevertheless you must sometimes relinquish your sick control over your daughter to grant her happiness!"

"Well said, mama!" The young boy grinned widely at his mother and glared at the man with a stronger look of defiance now. Mr. Noir hissed with stern indignation and he nonetheless waved the teenagers on, throwing in the towel. He got perplexed over the glowing delight that shone on his daughter face, as she was taken aside by her sweetheart.

"Don't be long!" He yelled and crossed his arms, knowing well that they don't exactly follow the rules. They never follow.

Touya took Bianca to Nuvema's bottom, where the ocean's view is on display. They stood at the cliff, enjoying the beautiful in the offing sunset. Watching that has been their hobby these years, since childhood, when he managed to snatch her away from her parents and flee. They wanted to reminisce about their good old days, but there were so many memories that their time would quickly run out.

"I've tried to fancy how I would ghost you away from your parents this time…"

"Like… kidnaping me?"

"Yes, yes… NO! I wouldn't do this, Bianca! I'd never try things punishable by law! It's crime! Much less doing things against your will!"

"Who said it would be against my will? In fact, you'd be my hero, not a criminal!"

"Yeah… I know! Just try to understand… even though you'd be willing to elope with me, I may be arrested if your father wants to accuse me of kidnapping you! And he wouldn't ever let me go away unscathed!"

"I don't care, Touya! I just… I missed you! I missed you so!" She threw her arms all around him and cried against his chest.

"I missed you too, angel!" He wanted to shed a tear but held back since he had to strike a firm attitude for her. "Bianca… I have something very important to tell you…"

"W-what it is?"

"Don't get me wrong, okay… I've been mulling it over since the day we broke up…"

"Don't k-know if I wanna hear it…"

"No, no, no, dear! Listen to me first, okay? Don't be hasty!"

"A-Alright…"

"So, I want to apologize…"

"Hum? For?"

"I acted very selfish that day… I got utterly disgusted at myself when I looked in my mirror and practically saw your father there instead of me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm saying that I tried to hold you down when you finally settled on going to SINNOH! That's your decision! I can't simply shrug it off and push what I want on you! That's what your father would do! That's what I've been fighting all along!"

"You say… you want me to go…"

"In a single word… yes."

Bianca started to see him all blurred when her eyes welled up once more. She wasn't sad now, but surprisingly the opposite since happiness suits her mood better.

"I see you understood! I'm relieved!"

"I promise I'll enjoy life, Touya! I'll do everything you told and taught me there!"

"With responsibility! Go live your life, see a lot of Pokemon you've never seen before, take pictures, breathe new air, meet new people and especially… be happy! I wish you the very best of luck!"

"Thank you, I wish the best for you as well!"

They stared at each other for a while, smiling effortlessly. It was only them. They didn't even hear the car horn, which was buzzing in everybody's ears stubbornly.

"I'm letting you go because I know that you'll be back soon!"

"Yeah… hopefully!"

"If you don't, I'll go kidnap you!"

"Yup! Yes, please!" They laughed and Touya noticed Mr. Noir drawing near. The boy grinned playfully and pulled the blonde girl to his arms, crashing lips together. He also ran his hand on her sides, making her giggle against his mouth.

"How daring! I'd never give my treasured daughter away to such a pervert! ENOUGH WITH THAT!"

The man grabbed the girl's arm and yanked her away from her lover.

"I LOVE YOU! DON'T FORGET THIS!"

"I LOVE YOU TOO!"

"I'LL WAIT FOR YOU! IT'S A PROMISE!"

"AND I'LL COME BACK FOR YOU!"

"Cut the chit-chat, Bianca!" He opened the taxi's door and sat the girl down next to her mother, slamming the door forcefully.

"You'll regret this!" Touya's infatuated expression became gradually blank, and then infuriated. He gritted teeth as he looked at Mr. Noir getting to the passenger's side.

Cheren and Touko ran to him and placed hands on his shoulder, knowing that he was about to cry.

Not only him, but most of the people who still were there cried when the cabby drove off. Touya ducked his friends and strode forward, grabbing tightly a Poke-ball in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Touko gasped at his sudden movement. He didn't answer and tossed the device in the air, calling his Braviary to ground while gesturing with his hand, getting ready to climb onto the bird's back and fly away.

"Where are you going?" The blue eyed girl asked again, but he left her without a reply. "TOUYA! ANSWER ME YOU JERK!"

"Let him be, Touko. Whatever it is he's gonna do, he can handle himself out of danger." Cheren stole up on her, adjusting his glasses with a single finger.

"I fear he's gonna cop it!"

"Nothing to worry about, he always cop it sweet in the end instead…" The wise boy lifted his hand up to the level of his forehead as he stared at Touya, trying to protect his eyes from the annoying sunlight, rays that were to vanish soon.

"Hopefully he'll bring Bianca back!"

"I guess this is what he's trying to do."

"Well, I… noticed something strange between them these days… come to think of it, I almost asked Bianca if they were having problems or something when I heard that he wasn't coming to say goodbye to her… he explained why, but… if you want to know, I can't swallow this story…"

"Really? You noticed… something strange?" Cheren widened his eyes and got closer to Touko.

"Yes, but that's weird… she'd just tell me… "

"Now that you said… I remember how cold he was this week, even around us… he used to pull her to his arms for them to neck in front of us, he didn't care if we were embarrassed… so typical of him! I haven't seen such a scene in a while…"

"Weird, weird… do you think… they broke up?"

"And hid it from us? Maybe."

The brunette sighed, feeling her eyes water. In fact, she saw herself as a kind of culprit if her friends had really put paid to their new form of relationship.

"I'm out of sorts, guess I'm going home now…" She said melancholically, having a sensation of whirling in her head, as a result of giddiness after such an awful day.

"Fine. I'm going with you."

"Did I ask you to come with me?"

"Angry? Count ten!"

"Really wanna try my patience, Cheren?!"

"That's why I advised you. Counting helps improving patience."

"Stop offering me things I'm not asking for! If I wanted your advice I'd simply ask!"

"Ok, ok, alright… let's overlook all this pointless arguing and pretend that I kept my mouth shut."

He swung around and scuffled to the other side. He was no more speaking. Touko seemed to have a pang of conscience as she kneaded her temple's muscles in order to alleviate those galling spasms. Of course she was distressed and upset but biting the hand that feeds you is not exactly what should be done.

"I'm sorry, Cheren… I slipped my trolley again…"

"You've been making a mountain out of a molehill lately…"

"You're right… N is the one who most suffers with my… foolishness… I'll try not to rage out of control anymore…"

"And here she brings the lunatic pistachio guy again!"

"P-Pistachio?! Oh, stop that! Poor N!" The girl got angry at first but her expression gradually changed into traces of enjoyment. Suddenly, gales of laugher couldn't be held in. "That was hilarious! Hahahaha…"

"What?" Cheren cracked his head to the side and gazed at her. "You're definitely not ok, Touko… I'm getting scared of you…"

"Oooh, come on! You know you make me laugh… on rare occasions, but… you make me laugh! Now what the heck was that… Pistachio? "

"That's a Mediterranean tree's nut. Its edible kernel is green. Sometimes yellow. It just happens to remind me of that freak's hair. That's all."

"Hey! I'm fine with Pistachio, I think it's kinda cute, but don't call him a freak!"

"Are you forbidding me to say the truth? Nice to you, Touko! You'll be just like him in a couple of days!" The young studious man set about the walking again. "I'm feeling a tad bit queasy now. See you tomorrow."

"Okay… See you…"

….

That day, in the early evening, Touko had made her way to her house. Alone. Cheren suggested to accompany her, but was roughly dismissed. All she wanted was her own self for company.

And there she went, striking out some tiny to average rocks in the way with her foot as she tried to deflate the angst in her head, which seemed to be about to explode, by empting out the hurtful aggregated thoughts.

Dead on her feet, the brunette opened the front door sluggishly, letting a small yawn out of her mouth while either of her upper and lower lashes acted like different poles of magnet, exerting attraction towards one another.

She looked around and noticed no one at sight. It'd be okay if she were living alone with her mother, just like she used to do a few days before, however, they had now someone else to share their roof with.

Mrs. White was still out, probably at either of Cheren or Touya's house, visiting her friends' mothers for a good natter. Touko knew it very well. Moreover, she knew that her mother had her life to live, and it wouldn't be fair if she chucked it all away to spend a lifetime being in the service of her daughter. No good for them both.

The young girl smiled softly, sinking back into the sofa, reminiscing on days when the four women chatted idly all afternoon, always doing it at least once a week, also bringing their kids along to engage in games together. She could barely notice a tear streaming down on her face by reason of a twinge in her heart for the time when she could see her best female friend right around the corner. Literally.

"My dear friend…" Touko tried to assuage her grief on her own by relaxing on the couch, breathing deeply. She counted ten, remembering Cheren's advice and slowly let the quietness take her to the land of Nod.

Unexpectedly, Touko snapped out of unconsciousness and opened her turquoise-colored eyes wide open when N sprang to mind. She immediately jerked herself out of the couch by jumping over its back, almost spraining her ankle on the sharp contact it made to the floor, and ran like crazy upstairs.

"N! WHERE ARE YOU?" She got no answer back. "TALK TO ME, IDIOT!" She had already looked for him in nearly all the rooms, yelling, throwing objects out of her way, making noise and mainly, of course, cussing him out. And then, she stopped to regain oxygen for a while, with each one of her cells gagging for it. She was running low of energy.

The girl placed her hands on her hips and decided to think better of how she was acting.

'Calm down, Touko… or you'll scare him away…' So tired she was, even her thoughts sounded puffy. The girl settled for hearing instead of letting her vocal folds wear thin with screams. She could make out some subdued sounds which seemed to come from the last room on her left side. She slunk toward the ajar door and peeped her head through it, realizing that it'd be totally dark inside were it not from the light that flashed in from outside.

The brunette spotted N's silhouette painted in black and white, some faint hues of green indicating her right where his low-tied ponytail was. From the traces, it was clear he was sitting on the bed, and something unidentifiable lay beside him. She got into the room, turning the lights on to inspect the scene properly.

"Gotcha! You are so busted, N-"

Touko detected a small luggage next to him, filled with garments of the finest fabric he had bought during the days he spent in Nuvema Town, that means, purchased recently.

"What's this?"

N looked surprised with her question. He stared at her with an eyebrow raised.

"This is a suitcase. It makes easier to carry one's personal belongings on a journey…"

"I KNOW WHAT IT IS, NITWIT!"

"Then why are you asking?"

She snorted and started taking his clothes out of the object. Far from being one at a time.

"DON'T BE STUPID! I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT IT!" She stopped and fixed her gaze on him. "…are you planning on leaving again?"

"I wouldn't say leaving…"

"Then why are you packing up your things, like you were about to leave…"

"Because I'm leaving."

"WHAT?" She let those articles of clothing slip from her hands. "DON'T PLAY ME FOR A FOOL, N HARMONIA!"

"Ok, I'm sorry… I failed to express myself properly…" He stood up and knelt in front of her, making the girl's heart race with the way he did. It was like he was going to propose anytime. She blushed and looked down at him, patiently picking up his goods, having a sinking feeling when he stood up and started placing the clothes into the baggage again, realizing that the proposal was only a distant dream, entwined with her silly mind. It was enough to make her fall silent for a while. As soon as he finished, he walked over to her and handed over a letter. She hesitated over taking it, always staring steadily at him, but he wasn't going to knuckle under and recoil upon her stare. Her attitude was lost on him, and knowing this, Touko accepted defeat with shaky hands and sighed.

"Don't worry, Touko. You'll understand everything when you're done with reading."

She looked skeptical, but removed the folded paper from the envelope, after wasting so much time on lifting its flap. The paper was marked with some irregular folds, which possibly meant it had already been crumpled in N's hands by some yet unknown reason that made Touko swallow thick and shiver.

She raised the paper to her eyes and started reading. N only observed her, and since he already knew the letter's content, he just expected her eternal frown to go deeper and deeper…

On finishing, the brunette questioned "When did you get this?" wiggling the letter with brisk motions.

"This afternoon when I saw the postman coming over to deliver mail…"

"And you made off to the mailbox to check if there was any post for me?"

"No, Touko! I hate meddling in other's affairs! I've been just fetching the mail in these days! Then today… I've got a surprise… I never thought someone would address me a letter by the time I'm here…"

"And how do THEY know you're living here?"

"I don't know! They managed to find out…"

"N, I can't believe… honestly… I can't believe you're doing this to me!"

"I won't be out of sight, Touko! I promise! I'm just going back…"

"TO THAT LIFE? TO THAT PLACE WHERE YOU SUFFERED A WORLD OF PAIN?"

"I never meant to reclaim the castle but, now it's legally mine! This is an once-in-a-lifetime chance, I can't let it go!"

"What do you intend to do, N? You're going back to square one!"

"I still wanna save Pokemon, Touko! You know that!"

"YEAH, I KNOW! AFTER ALL, WHO DOESN'T, HUN? YOUR DAMMIT IDEALS RAISED HAVOC WITH THE WHOLE REGION!"

"I never changed my ideals! I'm just reconsidering the way I'll set Pokemon free from now on…"

"Ooooh, right! You gave up on those pesky speeches and decided to use force? Violence now?"

"I see you still know nothing about me, Touko!"

"Wish I'd never known you… ever…"

This is one of those moments when things heat up and you end up saying things that you don't really mean. However N, as guileless as he is, wasn't able to see that in her.

He was shocked.

"We can't live like that, N… we're always fighting, always arguing… looks like we were born to hurt each other… I can't take it anymore… so if you want to leave, just go…" She sniveled and exited the room, stumbling.

He'd stay but he couldn't be selfish. He had Pokemon to save and her words to take into consideration, as her voice echoed in his head.

_wish I'd never known you… ever…_

_we were born to hurt each other…_

_if you want to leave, just go…_

_just go…_

_go…_

_go…_

He made his decision.

* * *

><p>AN: I'm quite late, am I not? Sorry for this...

Unfortunately, I have to slow down my pace these days. But I'm not giving over! Not yet! XD

Thank you so much guys!


	17. Chapter 16

**I do not own Pokemon. Though I'd like to. I'd make Touko and N even more canon! XD **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 16<strong>

Touko woke up reluctantly that morning with dark circles ruining her porcelain face. Even though she was exhausted, she could barely sleep as she turned in her sheets all night, dozing fitfully once in a while only to have heavy nightmares.

"Damn that N!"

The brunette cursed the young King when she noticed that she wanted and needed to sleep badly, however she felt like she would waste her time sleeping, time she could use to think about how she was gonna fix things.

The girl hid her head under the soft pillow several times and forced herself to sleep, counting Mareeps in order to banish those thoughts and worries, finding a calm state of mind to finally get her so desired rest.

She giggled and quietened a bit while imagining fluffy Mareeps and Flaaffys leaping fences gracefully but, they suddenly would turn into _that_ green-haired man as he said he'd free all Pokemon from their trainers while jumping over the same paling.

And she went like this all night.

"Alright, I give up!" Touko sat on her bed, hands resting on raised knees. She remained there for a while, staring at the wall, but her vision could see right through it, farther than that. She sighed and breathed deeply, so as to gather courage and gear up for the day.

The young girl wore cotton socks on her feet, due to the harsh cold it made last night. She delicately placed one foot on the floor and adjusted herself to jump out of bed. And so she did, but she almost fell with her legs trembling and view blurring.

"I hate gravity!"

She stopped for a moment. Gravity… pertains to physics, and physics awakes memories of N. Touko rolled her eyes at her foolish thought.

"I hate gravity even more now!"

The brunette shambled into the bathroom, went to the washbasin, ran some water and splashed it on her face. She looked in the mirror and hissed when she saw those bags under her eyes.

"Ease up, Touko… you'll get some sleep later…"

She slipped her clothes off, stumbling clumsily across the bathroom, and went to shower, frowning and shivering when water started bouncing off her skin. Perhaps that cold liquid would damp down the heat of her irritation.

….

"Good morning, honey!" Mrs. White wished her a nice day as soon as she took sight of her daughter on the stairs while setting the table for breakfast.

"Morning, mum…" Touko murmured, rubbing eyes and feebly approaching her mother for a hug. While the woman was kissing her forehead, the girl noticed a place was set for N, who wasn't coming for the repast.

"Mom, why one more place at table?" The young brunette pointed at what used to be the green haired man's usual spot.

"Hm? Oh, come on, little miss!" The older female rolled her eyes. "Now go get N for breakfast."

"I'll try to explain, Mrs. White… N is not coming for breakfast! And he won't come for lunch, he won't have dinner with us! I mean… not only for today, but for the friggin' eternity!"

"Touko!"

"I'm serious! He pulled the plug on living a normal life…" The young brunette looked frustrated, the volume of her voice decreasing and faltering at the end of the sentence. "Yesterday he… got a letter… it explained how was the inheritance's scheme… with some difficult terms I didn't understand and something like money, goods and properties… it all belongs to him now…" She sighed and pulled a chair to sit down. "He's a filthy rich young confused guy…"

"Oh, dear…" Mrs. White leaned onward and locked her arms around her daughter. "Let's just say he's coming back home… and he'll be happy this time…"

"I don't think so. He's not able to start over alone!"

"You should be happy for him! Why do you keep underestimating and nagging at him like that? He's the smartest person I've ever met!" The girl looked up at her mother, revealing her sorry expression. How that could be so intense to even make her beautiful eyes look that miserable?

"I'd be happy if he could just… see me…" Touko folded her arms onto the table and let her head sink between them. Watching that, Mrs. White only shook her head slowly, smiling softly at the scene and stroked the girl's back.

"What are you saying, dear? Of course he sees you… and does even better! He admires you!" She rubbed the young brunette's arm gently to reassure her. "It aggrieves me to see you like that, honey girl… what happened to my stouthearted child who could see through any kind of situation without recoiling?" The woman stood up, looking up and gesticulating poetically though she knew her daughter always thought it was utterly ridiculous. She just wanted to perk her up, and would use all she could to make the girl feel refreshed.

And it actually worked since she was able to bring about a smile to her face. It really didn't matter whether it was a broad bright beam or simply a faded upward curving of the corners of her lips. What was in her case, the second one.

"I love you, mom… thank you!" Touko meant to squeeze her mother with flaccid superior limbs, but Mrs. White promptly stopped her by raising her extended mitt. The young woman just stared at the older lady. All she managed was a blank expression with mouth hanging open after being thrown off balance by her mother's attitude.

"Read between the lines, my baby… I'm not the one you should be saying I love you now…" The woman also raised an eyebrow, as if she wanted to suggest something.

"Mommy… what… do… you… mean?" The young trainer asked slowly since she was at pains to both process the information and think about something to answer off pat.

"Touko, don't be so hardheaded! Go to N and open up! You love him, and you know what? I'll only accept your hug when you finally have straightened N out on this situation!" Mrs. White folded her arms, giving off an air of superiority.

"You can't be serious…" The younger lady took some steps backward, shaking her head in disbelief. "Mom, I can't tell N that I love him!"

"What's keeping you?" She inquired hard, with one eye shut, tapping one foot against the ground.

"I don't know exactly what it is… but I… I just feel it! It would be a recipe for disaster if I try to make him aware of how he makes me feel…" Touko shut her eyes tightly with clenched fists dropping at her sides as she shook her head vigorously. "Besides, we simply do not agree with each other, and it seems this will never change! And I haven't reached the worst part yet that is… he is unable to fathom what love, feelings and emotions are to us, human beings…"

"What's the problem there? You'll show him!"

"It's not that simple, Mrs. White!" The young brunette raised her voice, but respecting limits, she refrained from shouting at her mother. "He even tried to learn it from a book in which Shauntal explains a little bit about this matter, he could benefit by reading… even so, he has proven to me he still needs some lay person's guide to courtship! How can someone be so clever yet so dim-witted at the same time? So… arranging for me to marry him would be like subjecting me to a dreadful bane for the rest of my life!"

"If you say so… maybe it'd be better for you to try to forget him. It's a pity…" The woman treated her daughter coldly, wearing a blank to serious expression on her face. She silently started to take away the tableware she placed on the table for N, ignoring the young girl completely.

"… mommy…"

"Yes?"

"You're right…" She exhaled strongly and flopped, resigned, on to a sofa. "We'll get through, I promise." Touko lifted her wet face up to her mother and opened a bright broad smile between tears. The woman smiled back, replacing the table ware and striding toward the girl, before who she knelt and latched hands with.

"That's my stouthearted girl!"

This was when her noisy stomach came on duty.

"Still I can't handle myself on an empty stomach…" The young trainer blushed lightly, dabbing her abdomen. "Guess I'll set it straight as soon as my belly's full!"

"It's never too late to mend." And they chortled together over their own foolish state of unstoppable laughs.

….

"Even though it looks chaotic now, it feels just the same…"

Said the young King, examining the ruins, what now was left from the entire castle.

"_I would like to make a comment on your inheritance, but I warn you… it'll be kinda honest…" _

N curled one side of his lips upward cutely as he crouched next to his Zoroark, looking at his friend with kindness.

"Go on." He stated shortly with that gentle smile still lingering there.

"_It's easy for them to give away the castle now! It's no more than a massive pile of rubbles… I'll certainly retaliate against it! You know how? By using my move called retaliate! That one you taught me with TM67… isn't that obvious, N, my friend?" _The bipedal fox-like pokemon slashed the air playfully, as if showing how he'd perform when he gets the chance. N chuckled, amused, softly scratching behind the creature's pointed ear.

"Sounded like a bad pun, buddy…" Then, the green haired man rested his hand on his knee. "But I liked it. Using syntactic or phonetic similarity of two statements to create humor is very inventive!" And sighed. "I could sue Ghetsis for damages, but I think he's already having a bad time in jail. At first I thought that seizing this property only implied compelling reparation to me… however I gave it a second thought and found it would be better than taking such a petition to a court, 'cause I could, as the owner, promote the rise of the castle and start it all over again without them and their rotten greed. Like it ought to be…" N received a nod from his Zoroark, that was now calmly listening to his plans.

"_I always smelled something strange about Ghetsis!" _The pokemon started to jiggle as he heard the young man laughing quietly. _"Hey, not a pun this time!"_

"Ah… that's sad… you wouldn't really fall through if you decided to play on words now!"

"…" They stared silently at each other for a while with N hardly holding his laugh in. _"You have such an unpredictable behavior, my ex-King…"_ It caused his trainer to burst out laughing.

"Alright, I'm fine…" N drew some oxygen in. "I'm feeling weird lately… I don't know what's coming over me…" He immediately became soundless, looking down.

"_What's coming over you, I don't know either, but I only know you're coming into a lot of money with Ghetsis' arrest…" _Zoroark said nudging his trainer with his elbow.

"You're inspired today, aren't you? That's the third one!" N shook his head lightly. A small smile cropped up as a result of a quick recover for the short time he spent sulking seconds before. "That's it, my comrade. Let's see how it looks like inside." He pointed at the huge castle, not bottling out in getting into something that seemed about to collapse.

"_I'm not a Torchic but I guess I'll chicken out at the moment…" _The Pokemon winced a bit following his trainer, who chuckled again, entertained by his humorous friend.

….

Touko ran as fast as she could through route 1 and sent out her Zekrom, in a place where they'd be safe enough to go.

"Hi there, dear boy!" She greeted the dragon while it was spreading its wings, stretching limbs and relaxing.

"_Good morning, Master Touko. How can I help my heroine?"_ The legendary lowered its head, allowing its trainer to easily climb onto its back and allowing itself to earn a pleasant pat on the tip of the snout. The girl giggled, blushing slightly.

"I can't ever get used to the word heroine… just call me Touko! Or anything else you feel like!" She waved her hand nonchalantly.

"_Alright, queen of Reshiram's hero!"_

"Hm?" Seconds passed. "Whaaaa… what's that now, Zekrom? Respect me!" Puffing out a "Humph!" Touko placed hands on her sides and threw her head back complaining. Yes, face all flushed.

"_You don't need to command, I already know what to do." _The black dragon jested while its trainer positioned herself on it.

"I'll overlook it. Now, big one… Take me to the Pokemon League!" Touko demanded, stretching her arm and pointing at some random direction, what she supposed to be the Pokemon's League direction.

"_Hm… It's not that I'm urging you upon my new nickname, but I'll only fly off to where you wanna go if you finally decide to accept it. And with a grateful smile. Is that too much that I'm asking for? I'm sure it's not…"_ Zekrom crossed arms, digging its feet in. _"With all due respect, lady Touko." _It added.

"Zekrom, tear off now, pleeeeease! And no! Think over this ridiculous nickname and try to find something more… appropriate for me!" Her brows furrowed as she awaited the black dragon leave at high speed, also bending her upper body forward to better stick to the creature while they're in air.

"_Not going, Plasma queen!" _It retorted, as if teasing her. The ground shook a bit when the giant Pokemon sat on the grass, almost causing Touko to fall from its back. _"Reshiram and I have been kicking up some conversations about our masters since N came back. Many times over. And we finally settled a conclusion…"_ It explained, eyes shut while its trainer focused on keeping herself attached to it by trying to wrap her arm around that large neck. Even so, she managed to pay excessive attention to the legendary creature's words. In fact, it concerned her so much, much more than falling down and bruising her back awfully.

"Well I don't want to know the heck this conclusion is!" She feigned indifference, briskly looking away. However, she couldn't handle this any longer. "Alright, what it is?" Inquired the curious brunette with sparkling wide eyes. She was so nervous that Zekrom could feel the anxiety freezing the pit of her stomach like pure ice against its back.

"_Calm down, little miss! You're frozen solid on my back, I'm weak against ice!" _The dragon ginned up the circumstances a bit. _"So… I'll have you killing two Pidoves with one stone if you let me call you Queen, at least." _

Touko frowned, twisted her lips and facepalmed. She finished her reactions with a loud sigh. "I… I'll take it. Please let's go now and you'll tell me while we're on our way!" She'd do anything to know what Reshiram had to say about her from N.

"_Fine but not so fast, Queen. There's another condition…"_ The Pokemon raised its arm and meant to symbolize the number one by stretching only its index finger. The young trainer gave up and let herself slip down its back, lying limply on the grass, breathing impatiently.

"Zekrom… if you won't cooperate… I'm calling you back!" She pulled her Master Ball and enlarged it, lying flatly and looking at the blue sky up there, where she wanted to be soaring through hours ago with a Pokemon that would simply obey and wouldn't push on her so many inconvenient conditions.

"_Master, I'm sorry for this. I really don't want to bother you but I can't let you go there and ruin everything once again!" _It finally stated without stuttering.

"What?" She jerked her body off the ground, tossing it forward with an abrupt motion.

"_I want the best for my heroine. Don't count on me to take you there until you learn how to control your feelings. That's all. If you still want me to do something else for you then just tell me to. If you don't, just call me back. At your service!" _Zekrom spoke firmly, knowing it wouldn't ever regret it. The black dragon stood with conviction in front of its trainer, like it did on the first day of her life as a real heroine. The day they met.

Touko shivered like she had just been subjected to the move blizzard. She understood what her Pokemon meant, still she didn't want to believe. She knew her self-control was lost somewhere, and feelings like anger, angst, hate, rage, irritation, annoyance and exasperation take over her as easy as catching a paralyzed and confused unhealthy Caterpie with a Master Ball.

And the main problem is that N had something that only made it worse. Like setting alcohol on fire. But what could that be? Could that be the restrained love she insisted on keeping to herself? Each day she kept him from knowing it costs her the time they could pleasantly spend together as an official couple reduced by 24 hours. And it only multiplies as time never takes a break. Would she wait the year go by? That would cost her about eight thousand seven hundred and sixty hours without him by her side as her lover. Why wait? Why do people always wait? We're not eternal beings. That must be held in mind.

She knew it all and looked up at her friend, her beautiful black dragon, with admiration. She lifted her head as she stared at it for a while, looking up to it even more now. The tears fell down effortlessly as her lachrymal secretion only intensified.

Otherwise, she would lash out at her legendary Pokemon. Only in a distant situation. This present time, she smiled at him and whispered.

"Thank you, my friend."

Zekrom nodded and returned to the device by itself as Touko only watched. She threw herself backward to the grassy ground and remained there to meditate on her actions a little bit more before standing up, to avoid copping an attitude.

It would certainly be comical if it weren't a tad bit lamentable the way Touko was left sprawling awkwardly, with grasses glued to her body and practically forming braids with her hair.

A few trainers walked along that route and took a glimpse at this scene, some of them even tried helping her but she just waved them off.

She lingered on that ground for a while. Inhale, exhale. She started training some breathing exercises in order to improve her patience.

"_Time to go!" _She thought and pulled herself up on her feet. It didn't take long till she could notice her state – A total wretchedness. The brunette shook dust and pieces of grass off her as she cleared out back to Nuvema, feeling desolated.

….

As stepping on navy-blue floor that magically causes impression of a darker hue, implying black, with white sides that seem to be glowing so as to cause an impact of glamour, he observed everything was still the very same.

N loosened the grasp on his bag and released it, dropping the object on that unique regal floor, which reflected it like a limpid lake. He scanned his castle, examined those majestic golden walls and passed through lofty pillars.

"Not bad, not bad…" He spoke silently to himself when he found no single trace of damage at that level. He slowly ran his fingers over gorgeous details sculptured in white marble that belonged to those sumptuous pillars and without directing his gaze to his Zoroark, he started to take his Pokemon through some history. "About six months ago, this place was exposed to serious impairment. However, the damage it took was minor and I must tell you that I expected it somehow." The young King began.

"_That's good, N. Always think positive. You'll never regret taking a favorable view of things." _The bipedal fox replied following his trainer at the same level of speed.

"You're not wrong but I usually don't pin hopes on what isn't based on science. I have the need to found my ideas on something plausible. Well, except for divine phenomena, that have no scientific reason… Take this for instance, and you'll be able to suss out what I mean."

As what would be usual to most people turn around and face directly someone who's being lectured by them, to N's quirks, it was the absolute opposite. He merely honed in on the polished metamorphic rock he had already spent a great amount of time overly admiring by rubbing as he walked along that lobby. "When Team Plasma started to build this place, they went through a meticulous study to create the most resistant structure someone has ever made. They found answers after thoroughgoing research that comprised the close investigation to the Relic Castle, located in the midst of the Desert Resort. According to the information they obtained, that mysterious place has so many floors, mazes and ancient ruins which certainly indicate that a whole civilization was buried in the sand. This civilization dates back to not less than 2,500 years ago and was raised by one of the twin heroes with his respective dragon. So I'm supposed to explain on what kind of yardstick I'm basing such a statement… it can be determined by measuring heights, from at which point was its top because the sand covered it all as time went by. We could only get to it using an estimative that can proceed from both absolute and relative dating. Those calculations include the principle of overlapping layers, continuity and the principle of the corresponding era's identity, in this case…" Even though the super gifted young man was absorbed in thoughts, taking in through each pore of his skin, he made it possible to let himself be interrupted by Zoroark's sharp snores. He snapped out of his trance, noticing he had been gone too far with his elucidation and chuckling quietly, he sat beside his friend with one knee raised, latching hands on it.

"_Looks like you were given the gift of the gab to even lull living beings to sleep…" _N imagined, throwing his head forward and dropping it a bit. He stretched one arm sideways to shake lightly the Pokemon's shoulder. "Hang about, buddy! Am I that snooze-inducing talking?"

"_Oh what? Yes, Team Plasma, Relic Castle, twin heroes… what came next?!" _Zoroark woke up short of breath, gasping those names he was still able to listen before dropping off while his trainer was rapidly talking at serious length.

"I'm sorry." He patted his friend's head, smiling tenderly. "I'll skip telling you about the radiometric methods, counting varves and magnetic reversals." His smile grew wider. "Though I assure you that's the best part, really!"

"_And I assure you I don't really want to hear it…"_ The fox-like Pokemon replied, disturbed and giddy with all those difficult words.

"Fine." He swiftly adjusted himself to stand up, rising to a vertical position right after. "I lost myself and failed to focus on what really matters from this… I'll resume it. So, the analysis the scientists made from the Relic Castle's structure proved that it was polished with white limestone that contains great amounts of fossilized seashells. That could possibly explain why it survives into modern times, thus, Team Plasma took that fantastic discovery and applied to the castle's construction. Knowing that, I couldn't be surprised this place is almost intact. Still and all, I'd like to call the most skilled engineers in the world up to examine the situation better." He finally went to the bother of breathing when he was done. "That's all." The young man's voice ceased uttering words, but they just didn't stop springing up in his head.

"_Oh! So finally I can say… finally! Though your explanation didn't fit into place for me, I feel safer somehow of being here. Otherwise, I'd feel the sensation of walls crumbling all the while!" _Zoroark sniffed the air around him, hitting claws slowly against the inner partition of the building, as if trying it out.

"That's good. Feel free to explore our home." N said gently, becoming less outspoken and then totally quiet. Suddenly, gloomy memories crept over him. He remembered the days he couldn't enjoy that place the way he wanted. All he had was limited access to the meeting room, auditory, ballroom (on commemorative days, even so, with extreme moderation), library, research lab, science lab, biology lab, chemistry lab, physics lab and eventually, as a reward for something he accomplished right, he could visit the sweet-scented garden they started to keep outside.

N's room was supposed to be his world. His whole world, which boundaries were unfailingly being watched. Yes, this was the only place ever he had full access, the only place he could explore entirely, whenever he wanted to.

The story of his life played out in his mind against his will as he gritted teeth at these wounding scenes. Everything there reminded him of something either grievous or sickening.

N tried to shrug off these sad memories and let cheerful ones take up. He thought about Pokemon, happy Pokemon, happy Pokemon with their trainers and this instantly lead to Touko. His eyes widened, heart almost stopped beating and shrank in his chest, like it was being crushed.

"_Why… why this again?" _He asked himself, bemused. _"Why do I'm feeling this? Why she does this to me… and above it all… what is this she makes me feel?"_ He had already asked himself if he was in love with her but he wasn't ready for that yet. He didn't even know what precisely was that. He never thought he would ever be caught up in a question he can't answer, a secret he can't unveil, an enigma he can't puzzle out, a problem he can't solve.

"_Is that a formula that has no right answer?" _It disturbed him. Life ought to be just like math, physics and chemistry, an exact science. But it isn't and it can't be helped. He shook his head forcefully, an attempt to dissipate her image, to somehow sweep her out of his mind.

Even though she caused him such a weird stir, it was because of her he could realize that after all he went through, it pays off in the end. And he smiled. Maybe he doesn't have to understand what it is after all, just feel it.

That was exactly when he almost got to solve this formula, by noticing that the mystery it holds is just part of its enchant. It's fascinating. Whatever it is, it's just enchanting.

He found himself happy again. She really cheers him up, even when she's not around.

"_Maybe it's better off when she's not around…" _He thought when remembered of Touko's ill temper, in a funny way.

Zoroark watched his behavior from the very first second, ever since he stopped talking about complex stuff. The fox-like creature got closer, and then closer, staring at his trainer, who looked petrified and reflective. The Pokemon had already tried snapping fingers together, waving, growling, turning upside down and at his highest level of concernment, he cogitated on farting to see if that would get N's attention definitely.

"_Hmm… what do I do to call this man back to earth?" _The furred creature wondered, after considering the last option too gross. _"Nothing seems to work-" _

"My Arceus!" Anthea cropped up, her voice echoing in the hall. "N! Is that you?" She ran like crazy towards the young King that reacted to something, at last.

"Oh, thank goodness you came back!" She threw her arms around him, tears streaming down roughly as a waterfall. "You could've been killed, silly Ducklett! Where were you all this time?" The pink haired woman gave him a telling off, like a worried mother, like an older caring sister. She pulled him off of her for a while with hands placed firmly on his shoulders, her examination ranging from top to bottom of his body.

"I'm sorry, Anthea. I didn't have time to say goodbye." N spoke shyly looking peripherally at the Goddess' steady hands and wide eyes on him like that.

"Don't do this again!" She looked for any sign of harm, inspecting areas on him that clothes allowed his skin to be seen. "Good." She whispered, relieved.

"But I-" He began but couldn't finish.

"My Looooord! I can't believe!" This time the other Goddess, the blonde one, cut off the talking. The young man experienced the same welcome-home ritual Anthea executed a few seconds ago. It all swirled before him, as he had déjà vu sensations. The blonde woman talked nonstop, but he fast forwarded it in his mind since he wouldn't trouble himself with hearing everything again.

"Concordia, Anthea… I'm fine, I'm healthy. Thank you so much for this but I beg you not to fret over me like that anymore. See, I'm capable of taking care of myself and I've got so much more to do…"

"Like what?" Concordia asked dryly, fingers elegantly grazing her lifted chin and seriousness printed on her face. The Goddess of love beside her stood agape, drawing back as she covered her wide open mouth to withhold a gasp. She's a bit more sentimental than the blonde Goddess, who goes dauntless on most occasions. That's why she was the right one to visit Ghetsis in jail that day.

"Take me to the Human Resource's room and I'll let you know what's on my mind there." N demanded and the women nodded promptly. They'll serve their task out, even after Team Plasma's activities started to peter out. They'd never desert that innocent child when everyone else had already done this to him.

He was very determined about this, as a quote would describe it perfectly: _"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."_

"Positive, my Lord. This way." The blonde woman moved first and went ahead with hands folding together finely in front of her, followed by the pink haired woman and then, the young King and his Zoroark.

Also known as the admission's room, this place was set to help recruits who wanted to join the group. They'd be put to the admission test first, undergo medical and psychological examination, interviewed and then, if accepted, they'd register at the organization, storing required information about them into the system.

"Here…" Concordia opened the door, the inert air of a forever locked room that had been taken over by dust spread out into the fresh outer air. She coughed lightly. _"I just hope it's worth it!"_ She thought while frowning, perfectly knowing she'd be affected badly by that thick dust in no time because she's allergic to it.

N didn't notice her annoyance, and her now crimson nose, acquired by rough and constant friction. He entered the room and as soon as he stepped in the lights turned on as a consequence of an incorporated sensor. The lights reveled hundreds of the most advanced computers, the latest high-performance technologies locked away in a large abandoned room.

"Interesting…" N inspected closely the devices and booted up one of them. "Looks like they used a combination of powerful friction-generated heat and force to intermingle the particles of the two aluminum sides, giving rise to a consistent, smooth seam." He looked attentively at the device, looking for something else he could point out. The computer started operating and he added, amazed "It uses plasma deposition, adding layers of silicon dioxide and niobium pentoxide to the glass in order to provide less reflection." He lost touch to reality, forgetting even why he was there for. Anthea and Concordia, who couldn't cease sneezing, exchanged glances, both with a sweat drop above the eye.

"Lord N… what's the matter anyway?" The pink haired woman questioned on behalf of the blonde lady since she could only make much of sneezing into her silky white dress. A lady also knows when she can stop behaving by the book and act more… naturally.

"I'll drill down through the grunt's information, for detailed data." He replied, without deviation.

"Yeah, but… why?" Anthea went on.

"I found it!" He enthused. "Now I'll print out two copies of this…" N set his command and the printer responded, processing rapidly the data. He swirled in the comfortable chair to face the two Goddesses, placing a finger on his lips. "Well, I need such information because I want to reunite all the grunts and resume our mission. I'm seeing it through. Every ounce of me urges me to go get it! Of course, I won't waste my time with those who were arrested, gave up or are with Ghetsis and consequently turned against me… this means I'm leaving again!" He clarified his intentions.

"No! It might be dangerous!" The Goddess of love yelled. "You don't have to expose yourself like that to get them back together!"

"Ye-s, m-my Lord… A-Anthea is r-right. There a-re remaining grunts living here with us s-since the day you battled the chosen one. Shadow Triad is here as well, s-so… with their help w-we'll be a-ble to restore Team Plasma t-o its full capacity f-faster than you would by visiting each one of them out of persuasion." The Goddess of peace made an effort to give her opinion among spasmodic involuntary actions as a result of irritation from the allergy. "I'm sorry but you're staying!" She blundered out, rubbing her nose frantically.

"It won't be the same." He answered, getting up to grab the copies he printed out before either one of the Goddesses comes in first and tear them to pieces. It displayed so many full names and their respective additional information such as home address, all he wanted from it. "Meeting these individuals in flesh would make them feel more substantial to Team Plasma, it'll be easier for me to convince them." He took the papers and organized them, aligning the sides of their rectangular shape by hitting them softly against the table.

"That's a shot in the dark, mug up on your methods!" The brave Concordia spoke resolutely. "You said you wouldn't scout up those who were arrested, those who are moving on and abiding the liberation of Ghetsis. Now I'm asking you… do you even know, looking at this useful list in your hands, can you tell me how you'll be able to know exactly those who won't apply to your criteria?" She was squeezing the young man to extract a likely argument, or even an excuse from him. It didn't matter how much pressure she was exerting on him, his convictions were simply irreducible. N walked to them, a faint smile threatening to increase on his face.

"I'll simplify my response, basing it on Classical Mechanics, one of the two major sub-fields of Mechanics. Quantum Mechanics is the other one. Well, Classical Mechanics analyzes the movement, changes in energy and the forces acting on a body. It was split into three main branches which are Statics, Dynamics and Kinematics. So, Newton's laws of motion are the three fundamental pillars on Classical Mechanics, and that's why it's also known as Newtonian Mechanics. Newton's first law is often referred to as the law of inertia. Second one, the fundamental principle of Dynamics. And the third one, action-reaction law. The third law indicates that all forces are interactions between dissimilar bodies and, in this manner, there's no unidirectional force or a force that acts only on a single body. It says that all forces exist in pairs. That's like you and me. You're an object C, for Concordia, exerting a force FC on a second object N, that's me, then N simultaneously exerts a force FN on C, and the two forces are equal and opposite FC = −FN. Do you follow my logic?"

Anthea and Concordia exchanged glances for the second time that day. The pink haired woman shrugged and delegated to the blonde one the hard task of replying.

"P-Please, cut to the c-chase, my Lord." Her hypersensitive nose plus his crazy arguments equals nuisance to her. They were really getting her back up.

"Isn't that simple? It means that it doesn't matter what you say, we'd be going nowhere. You won't change my mind." Now he truly simplified. "I'll get the names of the members that are here and in jail so that I can scratch them from the list." He walked to the doorway, unyielding. He would go onward with his plan by expressing purposeful footsteps moving in a very audible way against the floor.

"Hold! This place is your home, my King… you've been away for so lon-" Anthea tried to stop him.

"I've been living here for my whole life! Or should I say stuck in here? That's my main reason to go and travel across the Region again and even across the world to both achieve my goals and experience things I had never done before, because I was deprived of a normal childhood by Ghetsis' immeasurable greed!" N discharged, his innocent eyes welling up with tears.

The Goddesses felt a lump in their throat. Concordia spoke up, notwithstanding all the adversity.

"But you h-had already left us b-before for such a purpose, my Lord…" Her voice was angelical, soft yet so hurt.

"The other time I just wandered aimlessly… now I have defined destinations…." He answered, not so sure about that being the only difference between them.

"Then my Lord, please listen to me… I beg you to stay for the night! You may do whatever you want tomorrow but please… stay here tonight!" Anthea got down on her knees as at the limit of her hopelessness, throwing her upper body forward so as to nearly touch the ground with the forehead. She stretched her arms and her hands met next to his feet. Concordia got closer and tried to help the poor woman compose herself, stroking the hunched back she got from that slouching posture, which started moving up and then lowering quickly in sobbing spasms.

N watched that scene utterly dumbfounded, at a total loss for words. His determination faded, his legs wavering as he crumpled the paper up in his hands, unsure of what he would do next.

….

"Hello, Mrs. Black! Good morning!" Touko saluted Touya's mother when the door cracked open.

"Oh! Hey Touko! Good morning! Please, do come in!" The woman opened the door even more, in order to allow Touko's advance into the house. On entering, the young brunette noticed her throwing a dishrag onto her shoulder and closing the door.

"Do you want some help, Mrs. Black?" She asked politely, since she probably disturbed the woman on her housework.

"No, no, no, dear! I'm alright with it, kick back! Thank you anyway!" She made her way to the kitchen. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

"No, no… I'm super fine, thanks!" The young girl declined any offer. "I… hmm… I'd like to know if Touya's at home…"

"He definitely is, Touko. Still, I'm afraid he's sleeping…" The boy's mother replied, proceeding with her activities as sweeping the kitchen's floor. Touko, in the living room, could only hear the woman's voice almost being covered by the dull, repetitive sound of the broom grazing a surface.

"_Sleeping beauty!" _The girl couldn't help thinking of her friend this way while rolling her eyes. "… I'll be back later, then!" She said. It made the woman pop up in the room, holding the broom.

"Oh, dear… going already?" She asked, her voice manifesting some disappointment.

"It's ok, I'll come back later!" Touko explained, knowing entirely that "later" means "tomorrow" when it comes to _this_ boy in a sleeping condition.

"Yes, yes! Please com-" Before the woman could finish her statement, footsteps broke in on their dialogue.

"I'm right here! I couldn't catch some Zs anyway…" Touya's voice sounded lethargic, way different from his usual spirited, alert and energetic tone. He came downstairs lacking vigor, hair all messy, and didn't even bother to put his sport shirt of monochromatic coloring on, which was thrown on his shoulder, just like his mother did with some other piece of cloth, but hers related to labor, his was a matter of laxity.

"Touya! What's with you? Shouldn't you be sleeping… deeply?" The girl teased, laughing loudly to poke fun at him and resting hands on her sides.

"I suppose someone gotta school ya, girl! You're so full of unladylike manners!" He returned the disparagement while grabbing a small bap and shoving it into his mouth. "Goxfd moofihxh mum!"

"Good morning, honey!" Mrs. Black happily answered her son from the kitchen.

"What?! No kidding! She was able to make out what you just said with your mouth full?" Touko's eyes bugged because the woman's keen ears could flawlessly detect such an indistinct sound so quickly.

"Of course, Touko! She deals with it every single day! She's got trained ears!" Touya stepped into the room where his mother was and walked back to Touko holding a water jug. He set the large bottle on the table after pouring a generous measure of water into his favorite cup.

"Do you want some?" He pointed at the vitreous water vessel and at the breadbasket, also swirling his finger above the table randomly to indicate anything else on there.

"No, thanks. Actually Touya, I just…"

"Alright! Plenty more for me!" He took a glug of water, nearly empting out the cup in one swallow.

"Touya! I need to talk to you…" Her expression showed slight annoyance, but became suppliant as soon as she remembered why she was there.

"You need? Aren't you taking to me already?" The young boy smirked as he kept his eyes on the delicious-looking food.

"Ha ha. Very funny! Now, pay attention to me! I'm serious!" She spat, narrowing her eyes at the heedless lad across the breakfast table.

Touya nodded at her with a small crooked smile tugging at his lips. Any other girl would immediately melt down at this tempting sight, with him looking so wicked hot, with well-developed muscles all over. But Touko didn't care. She has raised some kind of barrier through the years that hindered her from finding her male childhood friends… attractive.

"Fine, I surrender!" He threw his hands up in the air as he dropped himself heavily into the chair. "Begin."

Touko glanced at the kitchen. Although Mrs. Black looked unconcerned as she sang loudly while cleaning everything and so being unable to hear them from there, however the girl decided to send forth her demand.

"In private." She stated shortly. Touya frowned, staring at the girl who stood unshakably with arms crossed.

"Is that it? My girlfriend just left and you're already hitting on me?"

"Shut the fuc-" Touko glanced again at the kitchen, covering her mouth and added whispering "up!"

"No problem, foulmouth! Just ask politely!" He mocked, slapping lightly his thighs before standing up. "This way." He led her upstairs while slipping his shirt on. She followed, her expression resembling those of annoyed memes on the internet.

He opened the door and let her move in first. Then he got in, closed the door behind him and offered her a seat.

"I'm fine with your bed, it's comfortable!" Touko sat on his mattress' edge, smirking playfully at him.

He pulled a black leather office chair he uses especially to his computer and ploughed it through his room toward the girl. "Ok Touko, we're here. Make your point!"

"Touya I'm here because… I don't know what to do anymore!" Suddenly, all that jesting air around them vanished off the face of the earth. She dropped her face into her hands and cried convulsively. "N l-left me once agai-in… and it was all my fault!" She blubbered out, voice trailing off as her hands and bangs hid her tear-stained cheeks.

"Wait, wait, wait… so much information, I need to organize my thoughts…" The boy rubbed his temple, trying to think first before saying anything. "How, why and when he left?"

"Yesterday… well I…" She cried more, choked up. Her friend rose from his seat and searched for a box of soft facial tissue he had somewhere in his bathroom. When he found it he came back to the room and sat beside her on his bed, gently pulling a small square of paper from the box and handing it over to her.

"Here…" He whispered and she slowly lifted a hand to grab it, dabbing her eyes with it as well as her face with shaky hands. The boy placed his hand on her shoulder and tried to calm down the emotional girl. "Touko I'm sorry. I know exactly how you feel. I spent the whole night crying since Bianca's absence is really difficult for me to handle… she's part of me and now that she's gone a piece of me is missing, that's why I'm feeling empty, incomplete… Bianca left me and N left you. Life can be a bitch sometimes…" He stroked her arm for some comfort while she blew her nose on the already damp tissue.

"T-Touya, it's m-my fault… I told him to go… we had a terrible quarrel and I told him to go away… told him horrible things 'cause I was out of my mind! I didn't mean to, really! Fine, he wanted to reclaim the castle but I screwed up! He'd go and I would be able to visit him eventually, and we'd be fine… but we happen to be fighting, arguing, engaging in hostilities on and off and on and off and on and off… then my patience, you know, everybody knows it's not thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat patience, ends up making tracks and I booooooooom! blow up!" Words went past her lips incessantly and the young boy next to her sighed and scratched his head.

"Touko… I warned you about that several times and you kept on turning a deaf ear! And hold on… N's reclaiming the castle?" He questioned with wide eyes, almost falling off the bed.

"Yeah, it's his through legal rights. Along with all the other things Ghetsis and Team Plasma owned. I know… Even Zekrom noticed it, he refused to fly me there as he knew I'd only make it worse!" She explained, staring at the soaked handkerchief in her hands.

"Your Pokemon is right. You should learn how to conduct yourself properly in these situations and when you've got your patience in charge, go have a word with him." He made her aware of his recommendation and started messing his hair throwing his upper body back to lie there, with open arms. "Maaan, N's such a wealthy guy with surplus money, it's like winning the lottery!"

"Hm-hum… and I'm… I'm nothing… how would he want me after all I've done and after all he's got…" Her eyes watered again with a gush of warm tears. They ran smoothly down her cheeks, over tracks of cool dried ones.

"Don't say that, Touko! Money will never put those who have great amounts of it above the others! How can a mere piece of paper prevail against true values? I'd be the first to tell you to consign him to oblivion if money compels him to dump you! Money can't buy one's happiness, love, dignity, peace… unless they're all phoney, disgustingly fake… the real ones reside inside of us." Touya enlightened her little confused mind, murky, cloudy and dark thoughts mixed in her head guiding her to sheer misery. "N is too intelligent to do such a stupid thing, you know that." This made Touko giggle quietly and smile, feeling good, felling confident again, feeling lighter as she disposed of her bad mood, of those bad feelings that gnawed at her constantly. Touya smiled at her, another mission accomplished to him. He really said the right words at the right time and cheered her up.

"Touya… how are you doing to endure Bianca's absence? It's so difficult to me…" She asked him, seeing her friend as a model to be followed in determination, self-control, strength and high spirits.

The boy jumped out of bed and shuffled to the window in silence, shoving his hands into his sport slacks' pockets. "I just carry on… I think of her time-off as there's never a forever thing…" His gaze was lost in the horizon.

"Beautiful words, Touya!" Touko's eyes shone as she clasped hands together.

"Life's hard, and what do you think we usually do? We make it even harder instead of expecting a favorable outcome. So, I'll be here waiting for her. Crying, suffering and worrying excessively about it won't change anything."

"Speaking of Bianca, I noticed you guys acting so strange toward one another before her departure…" Touko remembered and asked immediately, not to lose the chance.

"We broke up right after Cheren set forth his damned conclusion that night in the Café. She bought it." Touya's expression darkened for the first time that day and the girl gasped.

"Oh my… I-I suspected it… I-I'm sorry!" She stammered, resting a hand on her wavering chest. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Some things are better left unsaid. We kept it a secret." He remained stiff by the window, staring out at the Woobats and Pidoves flying free and easy outside.

"You're always keeping secrets with her, hun?" The girl winked at him, a mischievous smirk covered by her hand.

He turned his head to her with fingers charmingly running through his hair, and the other hand still resting in his pocket. "Well, she ends up giving them away anyway… I don't know why you are complaining! I perfectly know she told you everything when we had sex…" He scratched under his chin as he awaited her response.

Touko blushed. This kind of subject always embarrasses her, even among her closest friends.

"Well… girls need to talk about it…" The female trainer threw her head to the other side, curling an untied dark brown lock round her index finger.

"Yes, I suppose you'll go running to meet her when you finally get laid with N!" He teased to see her cheeks grow even redder as he moved towards her.

"W-What? That is the m-most absurd thing that I've ever h-heard!" She replied straight away with involuntary pauses, flushing all over.

"Don't tell me you're not planning on go to bed with him?" He expected his question to kindle her interest in giving the game away, disregarding her tongue-tied state caused by great discomfort. However, he wouldn't be able to pry a revelation out of her, not yet.

"Touya, I promise I'll let you know as soon as I manage to put my relationship with N in good condition again!" The girl bound forward from the bed and besought him to give her some time.

"I'm alright with it, Touko, relax! You don't need to tell me, just meditate on what I asked you and answer to yourself." He sighed. "Don't get so mushy!" He brought the brunette, who was almost crying again, closer for a hug. Inevitably, this kind of action only calls forth more sentimental reactions, and she wailed loudly into her friend's arms.

"I need him… I don't wanna fight anymore… I just… wanted a chance to… make things better… but I don't know if he will ever want to see me again…" She dissolved into tears and it certainly would be enough to wet his shirt, were it not crafted from Dri-FIT fabric.

"Do meet him, then. And remember to keep your balance!" He added prominent emphasis on the last word.

"I know Touya, but Zekrom won't believe my sudden change!" Touko pulled away from him, letting her arms drop down limply as a sign of withdrawal. "I've got no other Pokemon able to fly…"

She made her way to the corner of his room, sulking and criticizing herself in silence. How would she reach out for him in time without the move's fly help to cut down hours usually spent on another mean of conveyance? She frowned, fighting an annoying urge to hit her head against anything hard.

"Touko, you want to see him?"

"Why are you asking me this? Of course I do, you kn-"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I…"

"Yes or no?"

"Touya, please…"

"Yes or no?"

"Touya!"

No doubt he was testing her on patience. He wanted to know how far she would go without exploding, to check if she was really ready for that. But the naïve girl didn't notice his intentions, she just remained with her forehead to the wall, thinking about what she would do and surprisingly, replying stoically to his questions. A while later, she heard the boy clapping and congratulating her on her approval.

"That's it, Touko, you're ready!"

"What?" She turned around and saw the boy grinning widely as he rummaged through his top drawer, looking for something.

"I tried your patience with that and you kept yourself under control! Don't lose that in you! Still, I'm sorry Zekrom is refusing to take you there…"

"Yeah… I know… but I'll find a way out…" She opened the door weakly and waved to him. "See y-"

"Wait!" The boy's face lit as he pulled something from that drawer. He rushed to the doorway, where she stood, with a Poke Ball slowly coming into view as he opened his hand. "Here…"

"Is this your…"

"My beloved Braviary! I'll let you borrow him!" Touya smiled and her lips quivered when she tried to smile back at him. He sent out the eagle-like Pokemon and told him to follow Touko's instructions, as long as she's keeping him. When he finished he patted his friend and called him back, now giving the Poke Ball to the tearful girl. She took it, shook her head lightly at him with a gentle smile on her dripping wet face.

"You're unbelievable, Touya… thank you so much my friend!" She moved forward and hugged him tightly. "Bianca's such a lucky girl!"

"And N is such a lucky guy! Now go and prove it to him once and for all!"

Touko nodded at Touya and hugged him tighter before walking backwards, thanking him more and more and going downstairs in a state of bliss.

The boy watched her running through his window, chuckling, very happy and satisfied with her ecstasy.

"So… this only confirms my beliefs…"

Came a low, monotonous voice from the entranceway to Touya's room. The brown-haired boy widened his eyes and became serious. He glanced at the door and had a dreadful vision.

"Cheren…" His eyebrows furrowed dangerously at the other boy, his cold tone demonstrating sharp contempt.

They stood staring at each other, rivalry increasing at high speed, dense air of tension surrounding them in the room. This definitely won't be getting any better.

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><p>AN: I Know I'm late! I haven't uploaded in forever, I'm terribly sorry!

So, guess this is the longest chapter I've written so far, I don't really know if I'll beat my record some other time… XD

And I'd like to thank all readers for the infinite patience, cause this is toooo boring to both wait on a new chapter and read it when it's finally uploaded… Thank you very very much for the support! S2

It may take long but I'll be back!


	18. Chapter 17

**I do not own Pokemon. **

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 17<strong>

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><p>So this was the sight from up here in the skies. Large forests, long routes, big cities, and huge bridges looked like nothing but little models of a small toy town. We were going so fast that all the colors mixed together creating a fascinating idea for modern art. As each nuance artistically painted the scenery below us I relaxed a little and enjoyed the view.<p>

"Thank you, Braviary! Just hang in there a little bit more…" Touko whispered, knowing that the Pokemon wasn't a legendary, but still being able to handle the extreme pace for so long was a feat in and of itself.

The more they got closer to their destination, the more the girl's heart pounded in her chest. "We're almost there, just a little bit more…" She said as she let the thrill of the flight take over her.

….

They landed safely in front of the Pokemon League entrance, before the badge check gates. They were north-east of route 10, in northern Unova.

The message written there said: "Open the gates and change history!" She remembered the first time she was here, reading this for the very first time. It gave her a thrill, just like it happened that day. It all felt the same. She was there for N, and now it was no different.

"I'll open up and tell N everything! I'll change our story!" She whispered to herself, interpreting the message her own way, and with strong conviction. The brunette's eyes held the same fire it had the first time she was here, the same passion and the same heat burning inside of her. Her head was up and her back straight as she clenched her hands into fists at her sides and walked heroically forward.

The girl took her bag to check if her Badge Case was with her.

"What am I doing? Anyway, they all know who I am! They won't stop me!" She told herself with a bit of hesitation. Her worry was justified since each gate could only be accessed after obtaining its respective badge.

Here comes the first one, the Desolate Gate. Its name corresponded perfectly to it. It only offers an emptiness sensation. There was nothing there but the sound of the wind and a veteran, to check for the Trio Badge.

"Halt! Unqualified ones shall not pass!" The seasoned man said as she made her way towards the yet closed gate. "The key to open this closed gate is the Trio Badge!" Touko frowned, he didn't remember her? But she wouldn't lament over this incident. The girl pulled her Badge Case and showed the Trio Badge to him. "Oh, holder of the Trio Badge! Challenge all that you face!"

"Challenge all that you face!" She nodded, now excited with these words. She got pumped up to face whatever N could say to her against her arguments. And sure, it applies especially to her worst enemy, impatience. If it threats to come up, she would use everything in her not to let it prove superior against her. She stared at the gate, a bright light shining before her as it opened slowly.

She passed through the Trio Badge Gate. It possessed inherent characteristics to grass, fire and water types such as short trees, bushes, flowers, grass, burning torches and a little flowing stream with a bridge allowing her to pass on to the next gate. Then, she heard the drums.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Basic Badge!" The old hand announced, and Touko, who was already with her Case in hand, exposed her Basic Badge to view. "Oh, holder of the Basic Badge! Show the knowledge you've obtained!"

"The knowledge…" She breathed deeply. She remembered everything N taught her, with his absurd intelligence and his eloquence with words. She also thought of all the things he was still going to teach her. There was so much more for them to learn together, so many things they can only successfully achieve if they have each other.

She was now at the Basic Badge Gate and saw a garden with low-growing trees forming a boundary. There were also tall grass, both normal and dark, prompting a wild Pokemon to pop out of it at anytime, and poles with red velvet rope, close in appearance to those which are seen in the museum part of Lenora's Gym. Parts of what was likely to be ancient stone ruins adorned the place as well. A set of kettledrums were beating in the background.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Insect Badge!" Another veteran stopped her, and she just kept on following the protocol. "Oh, holder of the Insect Badge! Fight valiantly like an insect!" She clenched her fists tighter, raising her head. She would see it through, N is the one she is fighting for and there will be no turning away now. It doesn't matter whether fate is willing to cooperate or not or if it's on her side or not. She won't ever give up.

The next one was the Insect Badge Gate. She got across by the path that passed over a monumental metal bug sculpture, guiding her to the other end of the gate. A tuba was added to the background music.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Bolt Badge!" The trainer guardian of this gate said aloud and saw her badge right after. "Oh, holder of the Bolt Badge! Unfurl a shocking battle!" Yes. Her body shook with a sudden quiver of excitement and emotion. It all was definitely electrifying her system. The first time she overwhelmed the young King with the one of her most stirring battles ever. This time she would really do everything again if it was necessary. Her pokemon were all set in her bag at her beck and call. As a last resort, she'd really unfurl the same electrifying battle against him, in case it's all it takes for him to stay.

The following gate was the Bolt Badge Gate. It was pretty much another bridge, made of metal, having glass tubes with blue-colored electricity linked together under the bridge with a blue electricity powered generator. She could hear a low string instrument join in to the music as she proceeded.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Quake Badge!" Another veteran stated, before noticing her Quake Badge. "Oh, holder of the Quake Badge! Make your foes' hearts tremble!" These words were all she wanted to hear, immediately arousing her to forge ahead and make N's heart only hers till the end of time. Her own heart experienced an exhilarating quake as she drew nearer and nearer to him. She was ready to find out what the young man's heart was made of, would beyond any doubt, pour out her feelings and make it tremble, even if it were made of stone. Though she was sure it wasn't.

The succeeding gate was the Quake Badge Gate, which path was encircled by earthen walls laced with gems. It went from broad to small width in extent. Now there was a high string instrument joining in the background.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Jet Badge!" The long-serving Badge Checker set forth and the girl, as usual, let him check her Jet Badge over. This unavoidably called Skyla to mind and she couldn't help feeling sick to her stomach as she remembered that it was mostly because of her unresolved relationship with her friend Touya that Bianca settled for moving to Sinnoh. Otherwise, she'd just stay. She stopped, lowering her head as the wind blew her long hair lightly. She missed her best girlfriend so much that it prevented her from moving. "Oh, holder of the Jet Badge! Blast ahead with tremendous force!" So, this was the push she needed to continue on, not letting negative feelings hold her down. Bianca was gone and she could do nothing to keep her here. She only had to wait for her to come back now. But, wait… what about N? Is he planning on leaving again? For some reason, she foresaw this. She needed to blast ahead and change his mind before it becomes too late, or else, she'd have to wait. Wait; It was this word that terrified her, so she went onward like an with the force of a gale.

The following gate was the Jet Badge Gate. It has a huge fissure that blew a strong rush of air constantly stirring up the leaves as they moved along the wind. She crossed the chasm with the intense gust lifting her as she simply walked by. No fear at all. A horn could now be heard.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Freeze Badge!" The qualified badge checker spoke aloud, earning the sight of the Freeze Badge. "Oh, holder of the Freeze Badge! Show the sharp edge of an icicle!" She placed her finger on her lips wondering, as the path opened before her. Sharp could mean a thin edge or point capable of piercing, or it could have meant craftiness or vigilant. It could even mean cunning, slyness, or violence. On the other hand, icicle, a hanging piece of ice formed by the freezing of dripping water. Ice means cold, low temperature, lacking emotion, and chill or chill out. This logic helped her concluded her thought process. She'd have to face him with determination, pierce his mind using her reason and get this fight cleverly resolved. For this, she'd need to keep calm, stay as cold as ice and not to let her blood, or temper, reach the boiling point again.

She was now at the Freeze Badge Gate and consequently, she slipped and almost fell over, trying to regain footing with some clumsy, awkward posture. She started a long trudge to cross the slippery mass of ice, all the while minding the icy fragments scattered everywhere that formed a puzzle. The girl lowered her upper body to rest hands on knees, breathing heavily in an attempt to catch her breath. A bell was now joining the background music.

"Halt! The key to open this gate is the Legend Badge!" The veteran got closer and inspected her Badge Case. His eyes shone at the Legend Badge. "Pass through Victory Road, which lies beyond here, and head for the Pokémon League!" The man gave her a genuine smile and added with voice almost tailing off to a whisper in volume. "Prove that you, too, can be a legend!"

Touko felt tears bubbling up in the corner of her eyes, though she kept herself from breaking down as she beamed sincerely at the last veteran. She wouldn't become a legend alone. N was part of this story too. Right now, at this moment, she was about to make history. In fact, they were already legend since they helped give life to Reshiram and Zekrom, who were no more than a distant, dusty myth handed down through generations and hidden inside mere stones in a slumbering stasis all this time. They were restricted to old and rare sepia books displayed in museums and among only the most acclaimed researcher's collections. That they revived them single-handedly made them a legend and gave them the title prodigy. That's not even to mention how a forbidden love somehow sprouted between them. Were they not the antagonist and protagonist? He was supposed to be the villain though his heart was pure and innocent. She was the heroine, the damsel, the exact antithesis of a villain. They had all it took to last forever in peoples minds. Touko and N, two opposing ideals, black and white, protagonist and antagonist, man and woman, two legends to be unified in order to complete each other and become a whole.

As she made a beeline for the Victory Road's main entrance, listening to a decisive trombone playing brave notes to her ears, she casually observed the stone dragon heads on display that lined both sides of the pathway and the single claw that extended out from the wall.

She meditated on the eight reassuring and wise statements she was given and stopped a moment to scribble them down in her mind for preservation. She was going to need them when she was face to face with N, and maybe, if she managed to make him stay, if he does accept her arguments, if he shows her that what she feels for him is mutual, she would carry those words with her throughout their lifetime together.

"Wait for me N… whatever it is you're going to do… please… please wait for me… my love…" She fixed her gaze beyond any obstacle as if she could see him. She would struggle vigorously to get rid of any problems or reservations that might come up along the way just to make it to him. Touko prepared herself, both physically and mentally, for one of the most crucial events in any girl's life, revealing your true feelings to the one you love.

….

Touya's glare shot daggers at his bespectacled friend. Even so, he was greatly tempted to ease off the glare and let the tension in the room ease a little. He chose to put on a blank expression in hopes that it would describe how dismayed he was at the other boy's sudden and unaccountable appearance in the room. Cheren, however, was not fazed by Touya's passive aggressiveness and maintained his posture as he crossed arms over his chest and glowered at Touya over his shoulder with elegant superiority.

"Isn't there somewhere else you can be?" Touya finally replied, trying to ignore Cheren's presence in the room completely.

"This is definitely the right place for me to be at the moment. Thank you for your concern though." Cheren spoke quietly, feigning civility even with the obvious tension between the two rivals. "Won't you offer me a seat? How impolite!" He sneered slightly at his friend's apathy, to which Touya narrowed his eyes dangerously at the black haired boy's tone.

"The only thing I'll offer you is the exit door!" He said, straight to the point with an intense hostility.

"What? Is this how you treat an old friend and ally? Don't you give me such cheek!"

"Of course not! This is how I treat self-indulgent people such as you! People who push their desires forcibly on others while disregarding their feelings!" Touya said, raising his voice a bit to cut-off the other boy's next words effectively.

"Push desires on others… what are you talking about?" He looked taken aback, albeit he was no fool to miss his friend's point. He daringly entered the room further in search of a seat, or anything else that may be sat on to help him get off his feet. Every movement of his was under Touya's intense gaze.

"Don't go telling me you didn't know we were in the Café when you met Skyla!" Touya stared through the window at Mrs. Black as she mowed the lawn outside, rather than looking at Cheren, though he did spare a quick glance.

"Hmm… maybe I did know subconsciously… because of my advanced intelligence! I'm almost an omniscient deity!" Cheren said, spinning around in the comfortable leather chair he found across the room. It was quite relaxing and he actually found himself starting to lighten up.

"Seriously, Cheren… I don't really know if you're either mental, some kind of psycho or merely cynical!" He snapped at the boy, turning around against his own will to face off against the other boy.

"Already scolding me? I thought you would manage to stay cool a little longer before starting up the abuse again!" He said sarcastically as he raised his leg a bit to set his ankle over the knee in a graceful manner as he sank deeper in his chair. He adjusted his glasses with the tip of his finger, settling the other hand onto his thigh. "I'm raising the white flag, my friend. In fact, I'm here to help you." Now he clasped his hands together and let them rest on his stomach.

"Are you trying to provoke me by making fun of me this way?" Touya spat angrily, but tried turning down his voice as to not to throw his self-control out the window. He moved towards the bathroom so that he could keep a satisfactory distance from him incase the urge to seize the other man's throat fell over him, and it seemed to be urge that was growing. This way Cheren will have enough time to get away and escape.

"Quit gripping about everything and listen to me, will you? Look I just want to help…"

"I don't need your charity!" Touya snarled, pointing his finger threateningly at him, like a weapon. The other boy flinched in the chair. Anyone who didn't know the situation may have thought that Touya was being unfair or resistant to a friend offering help, but the truth was that Touya was the victim in this situation. Cheren may have said he was waving the white flag, but Touya knew that flag came with bad intentions.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about. It's a pity that you're too haughty to decline my noble offer. Still Touya, I'll help you taking it to the next level with Touko, and move on from the 'talking stage' you've been clinging to for years and break through to proceed to the dating stage…" The more Cheren spoke, the more the other boy frowned at his words. When Cheren finished, Touya came upon him with a hand in his pocket as he propped himself up against the wall. They stared at each other for a moment, gauging the others intentions. Then Touya's throaty laughter broke the solid silence, slowly increasing in volume as he couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed so hard that one might have thought he had just heard the funniest thing in the world and in a way he had in his mind. Cheren watched his reaction with a blank stare, looking at him with an uncertain look. It was now his turn to be perplexed and irritated.

"What's so funny?" He asked dryly, lowering his glasses a little bit and revealing narrowed eyes behind them, still listening to Touya's laughter as if it was a broken record.

"I'm sorry Cheren, but… you're such a moron! This is so ironic that I can't even help but laugh at something like that! It's so ridiculously unreasonable that I can't help bursting out laughing!" The boy was making a great effort to speak while dealing with sore cheeks and impulsive laughter. He also wiped away some tears that came to the corners of his eyes, now gasping his words as his laughter still rolled on, but with less intensity. He held his stomach as he tried to draw in a few good deep breaths of air. "I'll give you some friendly advice despite our animosity towards each other… stop trying to shove your nonsensical ideas on me! It really ticks me off! You're just being the same obnoxious jerk that you've always been! I think it's about time for you to consider a change of attitude!" He said, criticizing Cheren and slowly regaining his composure.

"Stop scoffing at me or I'm out of here!" Cheren exclaimed as he shifted his leg position, warning the other male.

"Oooooooh!" The brown-haired boy mocked him. "Don't say that! You're really tempting me to continue…" He droned on, quickly moving his hand to his chin as if debating to continue mocking him.

"Stop that! Why can't you act mature just this once?" Cheren rose from the chair shouting at him. Touya discontinued the mocking and now was glaring furiously at him since he hated it when his friend treated the others in a condescending manner, even if he had been acting in a similar manner just now. "Good! Now let me see where I was…" Cheren said, about to continue.

"Who said I'm willing to hear your pathetic speech? I'm fed up with your boring voice, I'm fed up with your ridiculous point of view, and I'm fed up with everything about you!" Touya turned around impatiently as he started pacing back and forth, messing his hair as he ran his hands through it in frustration.

"I just can't understand why my impressive presence torments you this much…" The black haired boy's voice was filled with sarcasm as he lowered his head and shook it lightly to complete his false drama.

"And I can't understand why you're always so hypocritical!" Touya retorted sharply and shortly.

"Hypocritical? I'm truth itself! And that's why I'm here to make you stop deceiving Bianca and open her eyes once and for all! Or else, I'll disillusion her myself!" Cheren took some steps forward, showing no fear on his face. Touya's stomach experienced the sickest sensation it ever had, churning up in nauseating repugnance. Never before had he felt this way, nor did he think he ever would. Cheren was seemingly using the other boy's words against him, from when he was the one who was dating Bianca, and got the same admonition from Touya for taking her for a ride.

"Deceiving Bianca? I'm not your sort, Cheren! Thank goodness I'm not! I'd never be able to live with the kind of scar you left on Bianca's perfect heart! You destroyed her dreams making that sweet girl's days full of bitterness! You don't know how many times I woke up abruptly in the middle of the night with her screaming and shivering because of nightmares plagued with your ghastly face! You don't know how I suffered seeing her cry every time we came across happy couples cuddling and holding hands and every time she either saw or heard about anything related to love! I despise you for all the pain you caused her!" There was a tense silence filling the room after Touya expressed his feelings.

"Well, I…" Cheren began, however something stopped him and he took a moment to think about his response. He was running out of arguments and bit his lower lip in frustration, curling his toes in his shoes. He sighed, slumped into the chair and started spinning himself around in it. The other boy rolled his eyes at the scene.

"Keep that up and it will make you retch, you loggerhead! If you do so on my carpet I'll wrap you up in it and roll you home!" Touya said as he was slightly alarmed to see Cheren swirling around in the chair because he knew how easily nauseated he gets when he's exposed to any sort of disturbing motion. Motion sickness afflicted him like a super-effective move. He could remember a day when Cheren took a ride with him on a ship, the Royal Unova, which had set sail from Castelia City's Cruise Dock. It had barely left Castelia and the young man was already gagging, shoving his way through the passengers in search for their cabin.

"Yeah, I suffer from kinetosis, I admit it." He stopped the chair, already a bit dizzy with a single slow turn. "In case you're wondering it's a condition that is characterized by nausea or feeling sick when traveling in any type of transportation or when moving the body in an unusual manner, disturbing the vestibular system responsible for the balance of the body. But it's not labyrinthitis." He explained as he leaned forward, resting elbows on knees and massaging temples.

"Nice explanation, maven!" He clapped slow and heavy. "So why do you stash your intelligence away when you most need it? You know, swirling in this chair suffering from kinetosis isn't that wise at all…" Touya folded his arms over his chest again, idly standing against the wall with one foot bent up and against it, while wearing a defiant yet bored look on face.

"I know my limit that's all. See, I'm fine." He lifted his head up and met the other boy's gaze, raising his eyebrows and smirking slightly.

"You haven't changed, Cheren!" He shook his head. "Since we were kids you always try to change the subject when you find no escape to a situation…"

"Whereas you have to rake over the ashes for self-assurance!" The boy adjusted his glasses with eyes securely shut, sticking nose in the air.

"Hah!" Touya snorted at his harsh reply, though it seemed fair if measured against his ruthless remark. "It's obvious why you don't want me to go over negative things in the past since they all incriminate you! For example, what you did to Bianca… isn't that your worst wrongdoing so far?"

"What? Is telling the truth wrong now? I didn't know that the natural laws of moral and ethical principles had changed…" Cheren said in a huff.

"Think again! You never meant to tell her the truth, you were told to do so, that's totally different! Mostly under the threat of me flaying you alive! Otherwise you'd string her along for years! That's disgusting, Cheren!" He spat, raising his voice again as he gestured wildly. The other boy gritted his teeth; after all, his friend was right.

"What if I didn't want to because I really held her dear to me and didn't want to let her down? What if I was in love with her? You're not in my skin! You can't enter my head so you can't go judging my feelings!" The black haired boy sat on the edge of the chair, pulling his long sleeve by its wristband, showing the skin of his arm, so that he could pinch it in order to put emphasis on the part where he talked about skin.

"What? Hm? I think I heard something I shouldn't have heard! To heck with your hypocrisy! You're doing no more than talking out of both sides of your mouth! You never loved Bianca! You fooled her for so long, she believed in you all those times you said sorry when you messed things up, but you didn't give a damn underneath! She was a dreamer, Cheren! A little innocent girl, a sweet angel in love… how could you lie to her like that when all you wanted was Touko instead?! And now you want to sweep this dirt under the rug by switching places with me! You're her boyfriend and I'm the heartbreaker? You're just telling the same old story…" Touya forced out the answer, trying to hold back his building rage as his eyes started to water when the blonde girl sprang to mind.

"I… I thought I liked Touko but Bianca was the right one for me as she still is! I just… couldn't tell because among us Touko was always the closest to me as Bianca was to you, even though we're all good friends…" He took his glasses off and stared at the floor as he rubbed the delicate lenses gently with the soft fabric of his jacket. "Touko is my best friend. Bianca is yours. It doesn't mean I've got to be with or like her because of this. And this was exactly how I used to think." He sighed putting his glasses on. "Unfortunately… when I realized that it was too late… she was with you. However, I'm not going to be moping around. I want her back and as long as she's not married, I can still fight for her and make her come back to me!" Their eyes locked again as Touya drew his brows together whereas Cheren raised them.

"And when you get it, you're gonna turn your back on her again… I don't really know whether your feelings are sincere or not, as you said I'm not in your skin… but I'll tell you just one thing… if you really do love her, then let her be happy making her own choices alone and stop raining on our parade, buddy! Because I'm pretty sure that the way you casted her aside like spoiled milk still burns in the back of her mind." The brown haired boy spoke, his voice now as friendly as his usual, making the other male feel a pang of sad nostalgia.

"I assure you, Touya, I love Bianca. I just want a chance to love her right…" He explained, hoping his friend would try to understand him.

"See Cheren, you can be sure that it won't be easy for you. I'll be your first hurdle since we're rivals. And since I love her and my love is not iffy." Touya said, wearing the same expression as when challenged to a battle.

"Well, I'm feeling confident. This is not a Pokemon battle in which you always win out over me." Cheren responded with a sneer, declining any possibility of being rejected by the desired girl in his own mind. "Besides… I still have doubts about you being sweet on Touko…" He smirked smugly, meaning to taunt the other boy into admitting the theory, even if it was wrong.

Without saying a word, Touya slid both hands into his pockets in his particular fetching style as he strutted past the window, stopping right next to it where another desk occupied the space. The desk was a writing desk, the other one, a computer desk. It was slightly bigger and had the favorable position of being stationed by the window allowing the young boy to enjoy sitting and watching the day go by outside, lingering there as much as he could. He clasped his hands together between his knees and he looked at Cheren, breathing deeply before speaking. "I shouldn't be wasting my breath with this but since you insist…" He leaned against the wall, back against a Pokemon League poster he had up since he was a little kid, which crumpled a bit with the contact. "When I was nine I started to dream about becoming the Pokemon Champion. My mind was so filled with dreams of being the League Champion that unknowingly I came to be obsessed with my dreams of grandeur and was unable to think about anything else. All my school notebooks, jotters, newspapers or anything I got with blank pages or space were scrawled with Pokemon, Pokemon League, Champion, and battles. Well, even some of the local library's books…" He blushed and scratched his head. "I was going out of my mind with everything Pokemon."

"Yes, I remember. And as we grew up I also watched the girls, including gym leaders, going crazy on you, but you didn't care. In fact, you didn't even notice! We grew up and we reached a certain age in which boys are… more noticing of the fairer sex… and get overly interested in girls. However, you were… unaffected…" Cheren chimed in as the story played out in his mind again.

"This was when I was twelve. My mother was so worried that she made me go through therapy in order to treat that she thought to be a disorder… I refused to believe that I had a problem. I was such an energetic, healthy boy! Finally and fortunately my mother understood that I simply had an overwhelming interest in all things Pokemon and then convinced me dial it back a little through sessions with that same therapist. Thank Arceus I got control of my obsession…" He recalled chuckling softly at the memory.

"The therapy worked so well that we all wondered if it worked too well once you were addicted to girls. You got me questioning my own self several times with how you could be so good at Pokemon battles and flirting just as equally." The black haired boy pointed out, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah… it never meant I liked any of them, I was just a big flirt. Thus I had time enough to go to libraries and pore over Pokemon and battles." He looked down, folding his arms.

"Well, I don't think so. You used to make out with most of the girls you met. All I heard was Touya Black is a mack! Black even rhymed with mack and fit perfectly!" Cheren exclaimed with his elbows on the chair's arms and his hands under his chin, resting his head. He rolled his eyes with a grin at the silliness of it.

"Let bygones be bygones." He said to his friend, showing a lack of importance to this part of the conversation. "What I'm trying to say is that I had no time for love. I always thought it was only for fairytales, not for real life. I met so many girls and I hung out with them, but I had never felt an intense emotional attachment. I had never felt the strong feelings that love supposedly brought… get my drift?" He asked, sliding forward on the desk.

"I watched how you've been acting around Touko. Psychologically, it's a very normal way that young men or even children behave when they're around the one they like. The person tries desperately to cover up feelings by pestering the other. I've been burning the midnight oil on this to finally settle my theory." He adjusted his glasses again causing the other boy to hiss sharply.

"Well, my case is the exception and not the rule. It seems that your strange theory has a strong hold on you and this worries me. Touko is nothing but a good friend of mine! I like to annoy her only in play, for sport! I just think it's funny the way she reacts!" Touya explained calmly, trying to meet his friend's gaze.

"Why won't you just tell me? You're hurt because it's not mutual, aren't you? That's why you don't want to admit the truth… you always managed to get the girl you wanted and now the one that Mack Black wants is head over heels in love with some green haired man… this must be pretty difficult for you." Cheren said with a grin.

"Honestly Cheren… you're ridiculous!" The brown haired boy scoffed at what he heard from his friend by laughing with derision as he shook his head, arms crossed again. "All right, where are the cameras? It must be some kind of joke!"

"Typical behavior of insecure people…" He adjusted his glasses, laying the other forearm onto the arm of the chair. Touya face palmed, noticing that this conversation was just a waste of time. Again, he let out a heavy hiss like a pressure cooker does when reaching the boiling point before boiling over. The brown haired man pushed himself off the desk and walked over to his nightstand. It supported a lamp, alarm clock, X-transceiver, reading material, and at times, condoms. It was fitted with a drawer, the one he opened in search of something. While he made a thorough examination of personal goods in the drawer the other male took time to examine the scene critically, first looking at his friend tugging at something then shifting his gaze to the drawer and then to the lamp on the nightstand.

Cheren rested his eyes on the nightstand, his mind empty. He observed the lamp, taking in all of the lamp's details, thinking that it would be really useful for a person such as him who loved to read and study in bed before sleeping. "I think I should get one." He mumbled as he was lost in idle thoughts. He continued like this until Touya, in his search, pulled from the drawer a long and thin foldable package with three square packets and placed them right next to the lamp. He had already pulled several things from there and threw them randomly about the floor of his room, but that one item didn't go unnoticed. It was a small and simple string of squares that caused a unnerving and devastating impact on the yet impassive boy. Was he exaggerating? His jaw dropped as his eyes stared at those small squares. He lowered his glasses and squinted, astonished and feeling a terrible sensation of anxiety settle into the pit of his stomach.

The black haired boy was still unaware of Touya and Bianca's break up, even though he had found it the most probable outcome after that day in the Café. So, to him, that implied two defined alternatives, one that made him hold his breath tightly in apprehension and one that made him release the air in relief. Two extreme possibilities occurred in his mind. One was if his friend was cheating on the blonde girl, the other was if he was planning on hooking up with her by nimbly gearing everything to this. An even worse scenario was if they had already done so. Cheren swallowed loudly, pulling repeatedly at his neckband to reduce the sensation of entrapment from the direction of his thoughts. His hands were clammy as a result of uneasy perspiration, nausea gnawing away at his stomach again.

"Yeah!" Touya smirked at the diary in his hands, lifting it up in the air victoriously as he would do with a trophy. He tossed it into his friend's lap while standing up. "Though my life is an open book I'm handing over my diary for you to know more about me and my deepest secrets." He folded his arms over his chest, standing tall before the bent over boy, who flinched at the sudden contact of the object. "Read it carefully and don't worry, there's no time limit to give it back by." Cheren blinked several times in confusion. He grabbed the diary, adjusted his glasses and idly leafed through it. Closing the object with the usual dull sound of pages colliding, he looked up at Touya and raised an eyebrow.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked.

"I want you to know who I really am. Because you seem to have forgotten…" Touya responded with a tight smile.

"I never would have thought you had a diary…" Cheren responded with a hint of surprise coloring his voice.

"I never really needed one. In fact, this is the only one I've got. I never needed to hide anything from anyone. Even so, you'll find things about me there that you never knew." He took some steps backwards. "It's kinda depressing since I only wrote about my disappointments, moments of weakness and loss. It gradually became an outlet for my frustrations because I didn't want to show the world this side of me. I decided to leave my bad experiences behind, locked in this diary, and I felt better for doing so. It's like it was the cure that restored my energy and boosted my confidence back to what I was used to." Touya explained, revealing to Cheren what he would readily find in the diary.

"So that's your secret…" Cheren held his chin as he stared at the diary in his lap. "That's why I never saw you down. I always wanted to know the source of your strength. I never, in my wildest dreams, have thought of this though."

"Yeah, but the main reason I gave you this is to make you understand that I hold no romantic feelings for Touko. You won't find anything in there that will even suggest in any way that I feel anything more for Touko than a playful friendship." He explained, putting a playful smirk on face. "Have fun!" He said, making the black haired boy grit his teeth.

"Think you argued me down, Touya?" He rose from his seat so as to gain height and try to intimidate the other boy.

"Hm? No Cheren, I don't need to. You're mistaken and you know you can't prove your creepy theory." He inhaled deeply. "My slate is clean. If I really liked Touko that wouldn't even be a secret because everybody would know it, and if I were to hide it from people for any reason, then that would surely be jotted down in my diary. I don't have problems with letting others know everything about me, how I feel and how I see things."

"Alright…" Cheren said as he made his way to the door, holding the diary with one hand and adjusting his glasses with the other. Not being able to dismiss those packets he saw a while ago from his mind. He tightened the grip on the diary in his hands as he stepped towards the exit before stopping as if he had forgotten something. He turned about with a slightly blank expression and said "You'll never get what you want…"

"What are you talking about?" Touya asked casually, unconcerned and putting things back into the drawer.

"I'm sure Bianca is still longing for me, Touya. This means… she's saving her innocence for me, for her wedding night with me. I know because she once told me this." He turned up the corners of his mouth in his customary manner to express defiance. The brown haired boy slowed his movements till he stopped, as if petrified by gazing straight upon a Medusa, in this case Cheren. Cheren's smug smirk grew wider watching his friend become dumbstruck. "I'm sorry, my friend. You know, she's a pure girl, her thoughts virtuous. She will certainly experience her first time with the one she loves. That will be me and only me, and no one else will get in the way of our love!" Cheren exclaimed with finality.

Touya threw his head back chuckling. Then, he stared at the other male next to the door, took in his audacious proclamation and cracked up, like he had just heard the funniest joke ever. Cheren couldn't contain a furious hiss from escaping him, which proclaimed all the indignation that was raging inside him.

"He who laughs last, laughs best, and I will have the last laugh!" Cheren said with a raised voice, raised like he had never done before, clearly agitated and attemting to intimidate Touya.

"You amuse me!" Touya said, coolly took up again from what he was doing before the interruption. He had already put back those things that were on the floor and now he started to set into the drawer things that were scattered on the nightstand's surface. He cursed himself silently about the mess rooting around in the drawer for the diary had caused, though it was never truly organized to begin with. He grabbed the condoms and smiled to himself as he stopped to stare at them for a moment. Cheren frowned at his friend as he did this.

"Those… those condoms you got… are you really thinking about having sex with Bianca?" His voice trailed off, revealing how afraid he was of hearing anything that might confirm his fears.

"No, of course not!" Touya said with a shake of his head. He smiled softly and put them back in the drawer. Cheren felt his knees go weak as he sighed in relief under his breath. Touya took notice of this though and smiled deviously to himself. "I do think about it though, maybe I'll change her mind!" He added, making the other male go stiff with apprehension as he widened his eyes.

"What did you say?" He whispered, even though his instincts urged him to shout at him.

"I'm sorry, Cheren, but it looks like Bianca chose me instead of you. She might have said that she was saving her innocence for you, but… That doesn't mean she couldn't change her mind, especially seeing as we are in love." His face was serious and he dared to look in his friend's eyes.

"I-I don't believe you! You're just bluffing!" He pointed at him, walking backwards.

"You're so full of yourself! I'm not supposed to be wasting my time trying to convince you. Beat it!" He dismissed him thinking that he should've said this right off the bat when his friend came over in the first place.

"It's not over yet!" Cheren ground out between his grind teeth. His civility started turning its back to him, dying out and vanishing without trace as a wild anger took over him. He was so mad that all the running stress hormones were driving him to perilous insanity. "As soon as she's back here I'll do her proper and you just back off! After this it'll be like she had never known you!" He said between deep breaths of fury.

"Ha ha ha. Don't make me laugh, Cheren Komor! What if she refuses? You should consider this before coming up with those rib-tickling schemes!" The brown haired boy responded, raising his own voice in opposition to Cheren's statement, slamming the drawer forcefully with a loud bang.

"Refuses? No way!" He let out a soft partly suppressed laugh to fully demonstrate his remorseless scorn. Without thinking clearly he started to blurt out things he'd surely regret saying later. "We'll be doing it, it doesn't matter whether she's willing to do it or not!" He snapped at the other male, who immediately grimaced in disgust while processing Cheren's statement. He furrowed his eyebrows viciously as he caught on to the boy's intentions, thinking twice to be perfectly sure of what he had heard before running towards the other boy in a burst of speed that put him within range to launch a physical assault in seconds.

Assault he most certainly did. Touya punched Cheren on the jaw with his fist. The impact was violent and knocked him down with one blow. He dropped the diary and his glasses flew astray somewhere in the room, leaving him with an inability to see clearing. Both from the missing glasses as well as his spinning vision from the hit.

"You filthy rotter!" Touya yelled and took him by the collar and shook him as he forced him up on his feet, rudely shoving him back against the wall. "Do you think you can just force an innocent girl to have sex with you? I dare you to touch a single hair on her head! You'll be a dead man!" The more he snarled, the more his friend winced as his knees shook, feeling his jaw throbbing with a bruise already becoming visible in contrast to his pale white skin. Touya was so mad that he hadn't even given him time to rub his face in an attempt to alleviate some of the pain. They stared at each other for a few tense seconds until he loosened the grasp on the black haired boy, who almost dropped to his knees. Cheren leaned his back to the wall and slid down to the floor as he panted heavily.

"I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean what I said…" He apologized for saying something that appalled himself to his core. He couldn't believe he had even thought such a thing, making him wince in disgust of himself. His eyes started to well up with tears as the left side of his face throbbed in pain, the same pain that woke him from the fog of his anger that had been prelude to Touya's righteous wrath on him. "I wanted her to love me… what do I do?" He choked out in despair and uncertainty of himself.

"Well, you can just get bent!" Replied Touya dryly and mercilessly and then walked over to the door and signaled the exit to him.

"Don't say that… you're my friend! I admit what I said was deserving of the shot you gave me, but don't let it come between us. You're my friend!" He said again, trying to affirm his friend of their friendship. It wasn't meant to be though as the animosity between them had grown too great and nothing it seemed could undo what Cheren had said in his moment of anger.

"I am no more! Go befriend someone else. We're over with!" The brown haired trainer said, refusing to look at the one who was sitting miserably on the room's hard floor, the one who was once his friend.

"I can't believe that! Is that it? We argue and just because of this our friendship breaks up?" Cheren asked quietly, crawling on the carpet as he groped for his glasses. As soon as he found them he immediately put them on while getting up, as he also picked up the diary. "We bonded over our trials and tribulations! It doesn't make sense to bring it to an end because things were said in anger, things I regret saying immensely I must add!" He said, a bit desperately as the situation started to sink in deeper.

"It's not because we argued! It's been a while that I've been meaning to tell you that what angers me the most is all the suffering you caused to Bianca! You're pathetic, Cheren! You're acting up like a loveless miserable piece of flesh! You really can't go any lower!" Touya unloaded his resentments on him without restraint, holding the door's knob in his hand and staring straight down at the ground. "Scram!" He said more forcefully this time, not wanting to be in Cheren's presence any more than necessary.

"I…" Cheren started as he approached the boy with a woeful expression on his face and placed a hand on Touya's shoulder.

Touya watched as the hand rested on him for a split second before acting and with a grimace he slapped the hand off of him and put more distance between Cheren and himself. "For Arceus' sake, get lost!" He exclaimed again, though with a hint of grief this time as he ran his hands over his face and turned his back to his ex-friend.

"I see…" Cheren stared at the other male for a second, struggling to come to grip with his emotions, muffling his remorse and smothering the increasing sorrow inside himself to prevent tears from falling. All the good times they shared as close friends were the only thing he had of his friend now. He closed his eyes and watched silently the memories that flashed before him, like a film being projected onto his mind. Tears started streaming down. He would miss him and knew he had no one to blame but himself, but wait; it was Touya that had angered him so much that caused him to strike out like that. Touya was at fault too, he had enraged him and he couldn't help himself! He loved Bianca and Touya was now making him question that. Cheren had tears falling from his eyes at this point and made no move to hide them. Touya would regret disposing of their friendship so casually!

"You… you'll regret this!" Cheren spoke trying not to show any weakness in his voice.

"I regret only letting you in and listening to your distorted truths and witless blabbing!" Touya spat out, fed up with all that had transpired and turned his back to the other male, unwilling to ever look at him again. He prayed to himself for the dark haired boy to take the hint and leave quickly.

"Tss…" Cheren hissed nervously. "Don't you even try to lay a hand on me or even come between Bianca and I."

"Don't be ridiculous! I don't need to touch you! Life will be in charge of teaching you a lesson and I'll be there to savor this moment!" Touya said, still with his back to him.

"We'll see about that!" Cheren swung round and left, slamming the door on his way out to show his frustration with Touya.

Touya was alone again in his room, hearing only the soothing sound of the hosepipes sprinkling water onto the mowed grass outside. He started to breathe laboriously, like he had a large weight resting on his chest, restricting his breathing. During the time Cheren was there, he had been holding himself back, withholding his worst instincts to hurt and humiliate his friend even more in his anger. He abruptly fell to his knees and he tried to release his burdens by letting out a painful cry, weeping bitter tears over a lost friend, lost in more ways than one he thought as he remembered what Cheren had said of Bianca. He brought his hands to his face so as to hide it as he cried aloud, bending over while he knelt.

He thought of his friends, first Bianca, then N, and now Cheren. He thought about each one and it occurred to him that the only one that was currently within reach was Touko. Even so, she had just set forth for Team Plasma's Castle in search for N.

"Damn…" His voice faltered and he felt his strength slowly ebbing away, stealing his energy and making him feel tired and aged. "Why… Why are these terrible things happening to us?" He asked himself rhetorically as he had no answer himself.

Deep down he had always had the fear of loneliness and struggled to keep his friends by his side and in long lasting friendship. He remembered when he said to Cheren "Looks like this is friendship at first sight!" back when they were kids. However, everything was turning out for the worse since his best male friend owned up to wanting Bianca's love again. The young man touched his forehead to the carpet in indignation, grinding his teeth together as he waded through memories of his friend that only frustrated him more.

"This… This is not me…" He took in his own deplorable state and chose his old lively state over this new sulky one. "I'll pursue my dream and this time I won't quit until I make it come true!" Determination flowed into him again as he rose to his feet, walked to his bed and picked up his cap to stare at it for a moment. He resolutely put the cap on his uncombed hair in order to kick-start his motivation for his journey to again try to become the Pokemon League Champion.

Touya packed his belongings in his satchel, the way he always had. He took its strap and wore it diagonally across his body as he made short work of the final details that he would need before setting out to challenge the Champion Alder.

"Alright! Bring it on, Cheren Komor! One way or another, we're gonna decide everything in the Pokemon League Champion's arena!"

He was pretty sure that triumphing over the Champion had always been Cheren's main ambition. It had also been Touya's and he was not going to be beaten. This was the path that would lead them to confront each other in the end and he was going to make sure it really was the end.

….

"Please wait for me, please! Don't go, don't go…" That was the little prayer Touko had been whispering all the while as she climbed a flight of steps towards the throne room. She was leading herself to the same place they engaged in an epic battle some months ago, having the same sensation of her stomach of mixed feelings she had then.

She chanced upon Anthea and Concordia on the second floor and they told her about N's intentions. This is why she was heading straight to her destination in a castle that was as vast as this one.

"N~! Waaait!" She hollered out his name, breaking in on the young man's affairs as she dashed through the door at an unbelievable speed. Not even she would believe that she had just acted the way she did when she would look back on this moment years from now.

She ran to the young king, who was getting everything set to leave again on his graceful white dragon.

"Touko?" He said blankly, blinking a few times and rubbing eyes in disbelief. The girl got closer, wobbled and fell over, exhausted with the adrenaline wearing off.

"Touko!" Worried, he moved close to her as she rested for a moment, and laid his hand in above her breasts as he was trying to check her heartrate. The female trainer went rigid at the sudden contact but relaxed as her imagination took flight. "Can you hear me?" He asked, but she was already lost in her daydreams, speaking incoherently. N positioned himself to take Touko in his arms and lightly clapped her cheek, shaking her softly as the same time.

Her turquoise-blue eyes snapped open and she pushed away for a moment before blushing immensely at the situation she found herself in.

"Oh, N! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She repeated.

N would have none of that though and hoped to never have to hear Touko sound so vulnerable again. "It's ok…" He answered.

"I'm glad it's ok…" She spoke embarrassed, starting to fidget. An awkward silence crept into the room even though they had so much on their minds that they wanted to talk about. After what felt like a eternity of silence the young man's reflections had already mounted up enough for him to break the awkward silence.

"What are you here for?" He asked as looked her straight in the eyes. Touko gave him a small, nervous smile, embraced her legs and brought them closer, so that they would hide her flushed face.

'I ought to tell him, whether I want to or not!' She thought to herself quickly, knowing that she had already contemplated on how to make him aware of her feelings. It was strange how cold her hands were and how they kept sweating. "I'm here for… you!" She let it all out before bottling it up once again, shutting her eyes tightly. With her eyes closed the only way she could make out a reaction from him was by hearing him, but not a peep was coming from him and for that reason she dared to open an eye and looked to him. She found an unresponsive, if handsome man, who didn't even bat an eye to her answer. Worried, the brunette didn't hesitate to prod him. "N? You…"

"Quiet!" He cut her off and she sprang back in shock. "Can't you see I'm so sick and tired of all these ups and downs we've been having?" The green haired man shook his head impatiently and stood up, meaning to walk away and shut her out.

Touko choked up, but she couldn't choke back her tears, nor did she want to. The girl dropped her head and soon started to weep aloud with convulsive gasping.

"T-That's why I c-came all the way here, N… it's m-my obligation, I ought to apologize…" The female trainer made every effort to speak despite her trembling voice.

After she spoke N stopped a fair distance from her and turned around to better watch her delicate state. "And this is exactly what I feared, Touko. We can't be on good terms for so long! We're not even able to set about a healthy relationship!"

"How can you say this? You're not even letting us try!" She shouted, lifting her eyes to show determination.

"We have tried enough, Touko. It occurred to me that I can't accept your apologies again and risk another minor but wounding squabble later! It's exhausting, don't you think so?" He breathed deeply and noticing that she didn't answer. "Well, maybe it's me, Touko… I'm an anti-social human being, as you once said! I was born to befriend Pokemon only. I can't understand the complex relationships that humans like to create and are bound up in. For your own good, keep your distance from me!" He explained, ready to send Reshiram out and vanish away in no time right in front of her again.

"I think you must know that distance lends enchantment to the view… if you wanna leave again, just go… at least you'll see our relationship better than it really is…" Touko lowered her head and closed her eyes, the tears she was shedding falling down her cheeks while she heard his footsteps fading away. 'What you're doing, stupid girl? Will you let him go again? You're pathetic! At the end of the day all you will ever do is to go back on your own word and return to your mother and friends, who are uselessly rooting for you! Shame on you!' Touko couldn't reason with such discouraging thoughts that were entrapping her mind and clouding it with guilt. She brought her hands up to cover her ears as her mind worked so loud that she couldn't hear anything. The brunette gritted her teeth as she started getting a light headache from squeezing her ears against her head so hard in an attempt to block the thoughts in her head. This was the most important moment in her life though and she knew that she needed to make her a move now if she wanted to keep N. It's now or never and she knew it, as she fought through the haze of all the negative thoughts and feelings that were swirling up inside her and finally, with the feeling of having her heart ripped from her chest she yelled out to her love at the top of her voice "Stop!" In that moment she felt her courage and spirit soar, she could do this, she could keep him and she would!

"Why would I? Nothing you say will make me come around, Touko!" N slowly advanced to his destination, the large hole in the throne room's farthest wall. N's voice was enough of a jolt to make her start to stand. She had to stop sitting by while he was about to pass out of sight again.

As she rose to her feet and took some steps toward him, raising her voice to show that the old Touko was back and ready to kick about the young king's schemes.

"Turn around and face me N!" she yelled out to him.

"Nice try! I'm not supposed to waste my time on it. I'd lose and you will try to put down my convictions by showing me that I'm weaker." He coldly waved it off.

"It's not that! In the Pokemon world we can battle to settle agreements and make solutions when the involved parts hold contradictory points of view! Didn't you know that? This was how we decided Unova's fate!"

"Oh, fine. Is that all? I don't have a reason to stay and you don't have a reason to change my mind. Guess it's not a done deal!" N enlarged the Poke-Ball that contained the legendary white dragon in his hand.

"No, N! Don't go yet, let's just try! I'm pretty sure we won't fall out over silly things again!"

"I think I've heard this before…" N said calmly.

"At least I'm here to take responsibility for my faults! And I'll always be willing to go for it!" She exclaimed.

"I'm not questioning that I'm not at fault for our falling out or anything of the sort. I telling you that I can't befriend people, deal with it!"

"You… coward!" Touko's eyes watered again and she felt a lovesick anger building down deep inside of her. N stopped agape and stared at her for a moment as his eyes widened at what Touko had said.

"See why we… can't stay together…" The young man whispered almost inaudible causing the female trainer to squint and try to read his lips. She, too, lowered her tone to reply, but it was way louder than his.

"Be a man and stay, N! This way I'll show you that you're wrong!"

"Take care, Touko. Maybe someday we'll meet again." He released the dragon from the device and patted his friend.

"N, wait!" She yelled as she ran to him

"Bye!" He said, trying to depart without drawing it out.

"N, stay please, I…" she started as she grasped a hold of him.

"It doesn't matter, Touko! Let go of me!" He brushed anything she had to say aside as well as her grip while adjusting himself on the dragon's back. "Now Reshiram, let's go!"

The Pokemon started to glow a bright blue as it flapped it's wings and emitted a loud growl. Touko ran to get around him and prevent his departure somehow, hundreds of thoughts running through her head.

"N, don't!" She shouted once again but the dust had already begun to stir from Reshiram about to fly off. That's when she realized that there would only be one thing that might actually stop him. Touko drew in all the air she could and sent forth her last resort.

"N, stay! I love you!" She yelled, as if proclaiming to the heavens.

Surprisingly or not, it worked.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: Hey guys, sorry I took this long! I've been really on the go these days, not having a sec to drop by! But I'm happy to take this time off and update!

A colossal thanks to Snare646 for Beta'ing this chapter! God bless you and all you readers! I really care!

I may take long, but I'll be back! ^^


	19. Chapter 18

I do not own Pokemon.

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><p><strong>CHAPTER 18<strong>

What if you hear something about you you had never heard before? How is it like when you feel really good for the first time ever? How would you react when someone says that loves you? What if this person is the one you love as well? How frustrating would it be if you don't know what to do next because you know nothing about love?

And how annoying it is when unanswered questions start to roll up in your head, not giving you a second to focus on a single matter properly?

This is when you're lost in musings, drifting into your own world, where eyes can't see, ears can't hear, and you're unable to speak. Sometimes you can't even breathe, when you get yourself completely dazzled.

This is how it is. This was N Harmonia's state. This was the symptom he experinced before he could notice more of it coming. His heart started to pulsate wildly and when he looked down at somewhere else just to lower his gaze and hide it, he found a stain of sweat in his slacks right where his hands were placed. He clutched the fabric tightly in his hands despite his arms felt like an overcooked spaghetti. He was insecure – And this was definitely not usual for him. The former Plasma King was before an unannounced disclosure, something he would never be able to predict, mainly because he wasn't acquainted with the protocols of love.

Touko was totally baffled while looking at him, as if she had done something wrong. She was tempted to regret her confession, however, it was the reason why they weren't sustaining another bitter separation now. The girl started to fiddle with her fingers in a nervous fashion as she took a look around her and at the door from where she came running as if her feet was on fire.

'_Damn you, Touko!'_ Fear, regreat, shame, despair and anxiety mixed awfully inside her mind and landed the girl into trouble. This occurrence, plus N's reaction, were enough to weird her out and make her wish to pull back while she still had the chance. Maybe to never be seen again. Not by him, at least.

With this, one foot involuntary moved backwards, waiting for the other one to join in with Touko's full consent.

'_I can't… I can't, in all conscience, back out on my deal with my own self…'_She breathed, reasoned and put up her head._'Insecurity… it has always been a thorn in my side! I ought to get rid of it once and for all or else… I'll never know what it means to be loved…'_She shook her head and faced the situation, letting positive thoughts come over and pluck up her courage.

"N! Stop mooching around and do something! You hear me?"

Touko's strong voice snapped back his head, like a sudden and violent crash. N gave himself time to think, since he had only questions in his mind. But now, he wanted answers and resolution.

The young man raised his left arm, stared at his expensive watch and took exactly a minute to get off the white dragon. His feet carefully reached the ground and slowly walked along the fancy blue carpet of the throne room to meet the girl, who wouldn't even budge at his motion. His tall figure towered over her, still, her courage seemed to bulk out her silhouette to even up their heights.

N leaned forward to better feast his eyes on the beautiful girl. He got so close that their lips almost met, because the female trainer refused to move an inch.

"This what you're doing…" He whispered. "It's no laughing matter, Touko!" His subdued soft tone made Touko realize why he got so close and why she needed him that close.

"Alright, am I laughing?" She put up a brave front as she held her sides and kept her chin high.

"No. But I can't shake the feeling that it's just another sickening game you play." He answered off pat, narrowing his emerald eyes, which were right in front of hers.

"For Arceus' sake, N! So why didn't you get the hell out of here, then?" She retorted, boldly raising her voice at him. The young King grimaced for a while as they seemed to hold a staring contest. Although the couple was filling the area with more quarreling, however the room was silent and deserted as they stared at each other.

"Because I… couldn't help!" N muttered, turning his head to avert her gaze. He didn't wanted her to see his flushed cheeks, nor his vulnerable state.

It took some tense seconds to sink in, but Touko managed to get the message of his facial expression and strange behavior. She curled one side of her mouth up with tremendous satisfaction and rolled her hair around her finger. She also brought the other index finger to her lips and blinked at him delicately.

"Well… you look really cute when you're blushing! Why don't you let me see it?" The younger trainer winked at the tall, naïve man before her. She could see his cheeks pratically burning in blazing flames and decided to press on. "It's hot in here, don't you think? Oh, I know! It's hot because you're a wicked hot man!" Touko started to say things that she would _probably_ regret later. The word _probably_ means that she had a 50 percent chance of succeeding. Consequently, the other half implies failure. But she was ready for this. She was there now to put it all on the line.

"Touko, w-why are you talking like that? You're s-scaring me…" N stammered. Living the most part of his life with Ghetsis and owning such an innocent soul, he could only think that Touko's fiery-talking was about something tragical. Maybe setting fire to the castle and him as well?

"You're such a little kid… I like it in you!" The plucky young lady smiled kindly and took his hand. He blushed even more and became stone-like with the contact of her soft hand. "N…" She breathed deeply and gently grabbed his head to look her way. "You're the most admirable person I've ever met. You're smarter than Cheren, sweeter than Bianca, and you seem to love Pokemon more than Touya do. You've proven these things to me over a million times." She stroked his warm and now light pink cheek. "See, I never thought that I would ever find someone who could outshine my dear friends. Not saying that they're not special, but you… there's something really different about you…"

The young man looked down out of diffidence and breathed. "Touko, I'm not better than anyone… I'm only a sad case. I'm nothing more than a warped, defective boy who knows nothing but Pokémon…" His eyes watered as he lowered his head a little bit more.

Touko felt a nasty pang in her heart, like she had it pierced by a sharp extremity of a broken rib. She knew that those words weren't coming from him, but were actually from the most villainous man that ever lived. She loathed the fact that N was still perpetuating Ghetsis' malicious and wrong conceptions.

"It's time for you to put an end to it and stop feeling so small! Ghetsis' existence is an error! Forget about him! He's gonna pay for everyting he did while he rot in jail!" The female trainer spat, ready to grind on.

"You're right, I'm sorry…" The green haired man snuffled as he lifted his white shirt to wipe secretions. "In any case, I don't really want to keep alive remarks that came from a man who spent his life pursuing illicit deeds. "He spread out a weak smile on his face as Touko spread out a cheerful one in return.

"I'm so glad to hear this! And I'm also so glad to have reached you in time…" She exhaled in relief for the second time that day. She seized the fabric at the level of his shoulders and eagerly brought him forward, so that she could make it easier for her forehead to meet his. As their faces were drawing nearer, she stopped right where their lips were just saved from a breath to touching. "If your story won't fit into mine, at least I have tried… you've got a blank page to fill in, and it's up to you to choose the path you're going to take." She pointed at the giant white dragon – Reshiram – that was patiently awaiting N's orders, and turned back his attention to herself, even though he was unable to focus on anything else. "Just pick up what you most desire…"

"I…" He began and whiffed the rest out "My body tells me to go make a journey and broaden my mind. On the other hand, something tells me to stay…" He looked abashed while scratching his lower jaw.

"This something you mentioned is your heart! N, if it's true then…" She smiled and sprang off for a small jump as she still held his head with both hands.

"What if I choose to go?" He politely cut he off but she didn't show any sight of frustration in her tone and in the following answer.

"Then, I'd only hope that life leads you back again to my door someday…" The girl beamed at him, satisfied, like she would have her mission accomplished in any way. "And if you don't come back… you'd be a dream that will never come true… a dream that I'll never get to live." She tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and he finally took the wraps off his best smile to send back in reciprocation. "Now you know what you mean to me. But if you settle on your journey… just take care, my love." She couldn't fight back tears and frowned, what was enough to blur the beautiful view she had right in front of her.

"Touko… would you refuse to kiss me now and here?" He asked innocently, just a bit embarrassed.

"Guess I'm no thickhead to drop your request!" The female trainer blinked at the man before her, who was now shivering with a thrill of anticipation.

"How do we…" He began, nervous, as it dawned on him that he needed help right then and there – And fast. The flow of his words could easily be frozen up due to his lack of experience and the fear thereof, however, the reason was entirely physical.

Touko's lips crashed against his, but not violent enough to hurt his mouth. She had already pulled him by his collar to neither give him a sec to think, nor herself a sec to waste.

She tried her hand at lip lock, not going in directly for a French kissing. She thought that this kind of technique, on an immediate basis, would scare him away with hands up in the air as he runs for cover – this definitely would break her immersion in the moment. So, she was gentle, slowing it down to show him all the steps for a real and unforgettable kiss.

"That's right, N… just keep your lips soft and slightly parted then I'll take the lead." She breathed against his lips, feeling already very comfortable and confident. "Don't worry, I'm a novice at kissing too…"

"Y-Yes…" He barely replied since all he did was try and concentrate on the sweet lips ahead of him. Those he had just savored. Again, they closed their eyes, leaned in and smooched. Neverthless, Touko couldn't handle it so smooth for too long. '_Hormonies...'_She thought and mentally rolled her eyes at her… forwardness, to say the least.

Dying to move on to French kissing, the girl placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed down hard. Surprisingly, the green haired man seemed to enjoy as the pleasant feeling started to whip him up. They went like that, not being careful to even avoid letting lips smack, what's kinda awful and distracting.

It was so heating up at full tilt, and because of that Touko couldn't make sure to breathe. Maybe she had just forgotten how to do it. As the kiss became deeper and deeper, her lungs were gradually decreasing in oxygen levels.

Decreasing…

And decreasing…

And decreasing…

Decreasing until it started to suffocate her, hard to bear, and the lack of air started to weigh badly upon her chest. She needed to pull away for a while and, of course, breathe.

Then, her eyes snapped open and the world around her came into a blurry focus. She stared at nowhere in particular and her eyes were adjusting to… what? Darkness? She rubbed her eyes, blinked to alleviate the burning sensation and looked up at the sky, with no sunlight to make it bright and vivid. There was only a dark-blue veil covering the UNOVA Region once again.

A cold sudden gust of wind blew by and made her shiver. The girl quickly rubbed her arms to lessen the intense cold. She also tried to control the quivering of her body by doing so.

Touko drew in a great amount of air and was almost choked by a sudden gasp when reality crashed down on the gullible young lady. She quickly elevated her upper body while the rest still remained limp on the grass.

It was… just a… dream? How that could feel so realistic? She slowly shook her head with eyes tightly shut and lowered it, realizing that what she got was no more than a wild fancy.

But…wait! She was supposed to hinder N from departing once again, wasn't she? But she didn't have much time when she nipped out to the Castle in search for him. And for the looks of it, she spent some hours asleep, once the bright blue sky of a delightful afternoon was the last thing she saw before she blacked out. Now, it turned into a dim, overcast night.

"What the… heck is going on here…" She cursed feebly, feeling a bit groggy and still trying to catch onto real life. The left side of her head suddenly throbbed with pain, making her bend forward even more and curl up. That's when she heard a low, soft rustle becoming more vibrant as it came closer.

"Braaa! Braaa!" The eagle-like Pokemon stretched out his wings, as if warming up after a break. Touko took everything in her to barely open a single eye and try to show the least bit of a concern for the bird.

"Hey, dear boy…" She weakly blubbered out, reaching out for the obedient eagle. "I'm sorry…" The girl sobbed, shedding tears as she patted his feathery mane.

"Braaa…" He purred like a Purloin would when pleased.

"I've lost all my hopes at this point…" She whispered while shaking her head. "If I were N I would be able to know what you're trying to tell me… even so, I can feel that you're trying hard to perk me up… because I'm not as self-assured as your trainer is…" She forced a small smile, realizing that those boys had finally beaten her up in something.

"Braaaa! Braaaa!" The valiant Pokemon emitted a loud cry and waved his gorgeous feathers as if inviting the girl to push on. Touko stopped and observed the bird for a while, time enough to ignite her dreams and ambitions inside again. She stood up, brushed the dirt and grass off of her, and meant to get on Braviary once again.

"Alright! I'm not supposed to let this be a total bust… Let's go!" She shouted happily as her starry-eyed gaze met the starry skies – The path that would lead her right straight to N.

….

Touko breathed heavily as she bolted into the Castle. It surely awakened numerous memories and feelings in her. The nostalgic air renewed her efforts and she put herself together to succeed in her mission.

Why would she lose control if she already knew the way to him? No losing grip. She would win this battle again.

"N… I gotta have you!" She breathed in and out impatiently and puffed up the stairs out of fatigue. "You won't escape me!" Touko yelled so loud that her words easily echoed through all the structures of the building for several minutes. "This is not a dream! This time I am wide awak…" Before she could finish she plowed painfully into someone.

"Oof!" A woman fell down and oofed in place of a curse word, having her air suddenly knocked out of herself.

"Oh!" Touko gasped in surprise and covered her wide open mouth with both hands. "Anthea, I-I'm sorry…" She stammered and stretched out her hand to help the woman on her feet.

"…" The older lady elegantly rolled her eyes and sighed. "I-am-not-Anthea!" She hissed and scowled but took her hand. Touko bashfully used the other hand to scratch her head and apoloziged.

"I'm sorry for this… I'm not good at fixing names in my mind so quickly…" The trainer tried to justify her rudeness by opening up.

The Goddess stood up and regained her good posture as she smoothed the awful wrinkles in her silky dress away. "Kids…"

"Hey, don't get mad… we've only met once, you know…" The brunette chuckled but her smile faded when the blonde woman glared at her.

"Yes, we've only met once but you seem to have fixed Anthea's name in your head!" Concordia spat and Touko got even more embarrassed.

"Hmmm… yeah I happen to remember her name… but… forget this, 'k? Let's introduce to each other! It's simple! We'll pretend that we're meeting for the first time today!" The young girl's face lit up with the idea. Even though it sounded stupid.

"Fine… My name is Concord…"

"Concordia! Yes! I remembered!" The trainer cut the Goddess off and threw her hands up victoriously causing the woman to spring back with a jerk, placing a hand on her chest. "See! I still remember! Oh, and now I can explain what really happened… Anthea's name is shorter than yours, that's why it was easier for me to learn it faster!" Concordia narrowed her eyes at the dim-witted explanation and groaned lightly.

"Yes, yes…" The blonde lady decided to shorten the conversation and raised a hand to stop the girl when she intended to speak more. "No need to introduce yourself to me! There's not a single living being in this world that doesn't know your name!" The older woman crossed her arms and looked inquiringly at the brunette. "Let's cut the chit-chat! You haven't come all the way here just to ask my name, have you?" Concordia leaned forward a bit and lowered her voice, staring ominously at the pint-sized figure before her.

"Hm? No, no… of course not…" The girl answered impulsively, regardless of the Goddess' indignation. "I'm here because…" She broke her own speech off and gulped, rubbing her hands in high hopes of easing the raw sensation on them.

"Because?" Concordia brought it from where she had left off, trying to spur her on and bring off the upshot. Touko dropped her arms in sign of defeat, letting them hang loose at her sides as she closed her eyes and sighed. She had nowhere to run to, no more lies to come up with, no reason to shy away from – So, _it was now or never._

She took some steps forward and approached the tall blonde woman, who almost sympathized with her despondent state as she took in her downhearted expression.

"Anthea I…" The brunette began.

"Concordia I… what more?" The Goddess corrected her, pointing out how she ought to start off.

"S-Sorry…" She lowered her head and hid her fidgety hands behind her. "Well, I'm here… I'm here for N…" After saying this, it was like Touko had just expelled a huge Iapapa Berry from her throat. In consequence, she had gotten rid of the terrible weight on her chest and she could finally breathe in front of the Goddess.

Concordia widened her eyes, even though it was no surprise for her. Her crossed arms tended to gradually loosen the firm position, like they had experienced a big modification in their composition – something from cement to jelly.

"What do you want from him? Have you ever considered this some kind of obsession?" The woman turned her back to the girl as frustration stole over her. She couldn't even cover up her nervous tone by walking away so as to gain distance.

"Wha? Excuse-me?" The younger female drew nearer with a single eyebrow lifted and confusion printed all over her face. She prodded her arm with her finger expecting the Goddess to turn to her and get to the point. Instead, she went silent and began to snuffle quietly, muffling any sound she could eventually let out while crying.

On the verge of tears Concordia inhaled deeply and started to hum some curious song that should probably be familiar among those who are closer to her, like some kind of ritual she does to regain control over herself. Watching that, the brunette felt a twinge of guilt drilling a giant hole into her chest and couldn't brush aside the image of herself as a flagitious tomboyish pest, who was born for nothing but be a thorn in others' flesh. The girl suddenly materialized in front of the blonde woman, holding up high her praying hands and bowing her head.

"Concordia... are you feeling ok? Did I say something wrong? Please forgive me, please?" Touko looked like an insistent querist, trying to pry any verbal reaction out of the Goddess, who wasn't willing to listen to her halloos and shrieking at the moment. "I can see that I put you out greatly, though I'm still in the dark about what's got you so shaken… but I… I understand you… I feel the same concern, the same endearment for N! Th-That's why I'm here, because… I can't move on… without… his forgiveness…" Touko cringed and creases started to mark her forehead with an emerging headache. Tears welled in her eyes and her voice faltered. Thus she could not choose but to whine miserably before the other wretched lady.

The Goddess of peace observed how touched she was by the simple mention of the letter N. The woman was always very attentive to details and she knew that her beloved Lord started to act a bit different after meeting a certain girl. He used to often speak her name while sparsely talked about Pokemon, what made the seasoned dame suspect that her ingénue boy was starting to show interest in things that most boys his age does. Concordia was already fully aware that Touko was special to N and now, by watching her dejected figure, the downcast look on her face, she could tell that it was utterly reciprocal.

"Look young miss… I'm afraid that you won't find him here…" The blonde lady decided to level with the girl after dummying up for a good while.

"That's impossible, right? His father's personal wealth was legally conveyed to his son after his arrest! This castle is his property now, he can only be here! He told me so!" The brunette replied skeptically with her eyes skittering around the hallway.

"Well, miss Touko, don't take me wrong, but he spent his whole life stuck in this place… as you know, he has a strong passion for freedom and set out on a peripatetic journey to make his dreams come true and to enjoy what Ghetsis had deprived him of through all these years."

Touko's head swirled as her stomach apparently started to experience the same whirling motion because she had lost N. Again.

"Concordia… please tell me where he is…"

"I'd have gone after him myself if I knew where he was headed!"

"I know how much you care! I care for him just as well! I must track him down for us!"

Concordia sighed and lightly shook her head.

"Well… I admit I'm slightly divided on this situation… a part of me wants my Lord to live his life on his own, but… at the same time I feel like he ought to be aided in anything he does."

"As far as I know you and Anthea's role in the Plasma organization was to attend to N's needs, wasn't it? Well, leastways I've heard this from him all the time…"

The blonde woman's lips couldn't help but to curl up into a small smile as she came across the fact that N hadn't forgotten them for a fleeting second, for the looks of it. She shifted on her legs and softly placed a hand on her right cheek, heaving a sigh of relief.

"That's correct…" Concordia sounded like a twee musical jewelry box melodically letting loose her words and Touko wasn't able to get what all this sudden change of behavior was for, but she was glad that the Goddess' tenacity was finally starting to sag.

"Concordia, I'm begging… don't you have the slightest ide-"

"Miss Touko! Hey, Touko…. Is that really you?" Anthea showed up at long last, pelting along from the stairs and waving vigorously at the girl. "Wait up a minute, I have something for you!"

The Goddess of peace cocked her head, glancing over the pink haired woman and then through the barely crumpled piece of paper in her hand. She leaned in a bit to try to interpret the exquisite script – Its misaligned lines clearly demonstrated that the author was in a mad rush to dash off this note for some unspecified reason.

"What is this?" Concordia asked roughly and tried to snatch the thin piece out of Anthea's hand, but her reflex response was fast enough to avoid it as she jerked her hand away.

"Noooope! This is the little note my Lord wrote for this little girl here… he said that its content is extremely… confidential! He requested earnestly that no one other than Touko should read it and told me to hand it over to her in person only…" The sentimental lady made her way to Touko, whose face had an expectant, almost beseeching look. The blonde female huffed and stepped aside since she could never neglect any of N's desires.

"Here…" The pink haired woman beautifully placed the note in the girl's petite hands and took them in hers. "Whatever it is that you will find in this piece of paper, just follow your heart, sweetie." She whispered as she stared tenderly into Touko's cerulean eyes.

"Th-Thank you…" The brunette weakly thanked the Goddess, feeling her knees starting to shake awfully like it would crumble right in the next second. It didn't matter what awaited her in this note because N seemingly cared for her enough not to leave the girl completely in the lurch, right? Maybe. This could be a mere specious conclusion, treacherous and hurtful. Yet this could be a proof of his affection and long-lasting fondness. Who knows? What N knew about it? Touko had to find out, otherwise, questions would forever spring up in her mind. She was somewhat off her trolley, turning around and lolloping toward the furthest door at the end of the hall in order to reach a safe distance, all the while with the paper securely attached to her chest.

Concordia and Anthea watched attentively the girl from afar, exchanging glances again. The blonde woman couldn't hold back her itching agitation and quickly bore down on the other lady, so that she stood a few inches before the Goddess of love. Placing hands on her sides, Concordia kept one eye shut and started to tap her foot impatiently on the hard floor.

"Anthea, are you lying to me? Want to cozen me, don't you? Just know that I am always one step ahead, you hear?" She whispered to avoid echoes but her tendency was really up to a turbulent burst. "I'm sorry but I can't shake the feeling that you breached N's orders!" She leaned in closer, forcing Anthea backwards.

"Of course not! Dang! I shouldn't even be speaking with you after such an accusation!" The Goddess of love hissed and pursed her lips in disapproval. With head slanted, her gaze was fixed on Touko's distant silhouette. "Look! Here she comes…" Her stretched index finger warned the blonde lady about the girl, whose face revealed a tormented expression. The two Goddesses immediately plunged forward in order to meet Touko halfway, with intense curiosity running through their veins.

"Miss Touko! Are you alright?" Anthea spoke up first, upon getting closer to the brunette.

"Would you mind telling us what is N thinking? What did he write? Why did he write? Miss Touko? Helloo?" Concordia interrupted any reply from Touko to the other Godess by pulling herself ahead. She brought her hands to the girl's shoulders and shook it lightly.

"Don't push the girl like that! Let her breathe!" The pink haired lady shoved the blonde one out of the way as she raised her voice.

"Eh? You opened your mouth first! And don't tell me what to do!"

"You're very headstrong, aren't you? You're showing off just because we've got a visit today!"

"Excuse-me?"

"Lady Anthea…" Touko tugged at the woman's dress but her focus on the quarrel made the girl's action go unnoticed. It wouldn't take a genious to realize that this conflict was bound to intensify.

Touko narrowly placed herself between the two Goddess, raising her hands to catch some attention, moving in a circle and shifting her gaze from Anthea to Concordia, and then, from Concordia to Anthea as they engaged in some kind of who-speaks-louder contest. Interestingly, this contest would have a winner as soon as the brunette's head begin to ache.

"STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!"

…

…

_Silence._

The dames looked down at the short-winded figure between them. The pink haired lady stretched her lips out awkwardly, but all she could manage was an uncooperative smile that gave off her abashment. The blonde woman, on the other hand, saw no point in trying to camouflage her impatience. She would only cross her arms and apologize.

"I-I'm sorry for getting exceedingly nervous… I'm really sorry for this…" Concordia was tempted to lower her head but held it up high instead, as usual.

"Yeah… sorry for all this bickering…" Anthea coyly latched her hands and bowed her head.

"Oh, come on… it's fine! My friends and I lock horns all the time over the silliest things! It happens, it's normal…" Touko winked at them, mentally cursing herself for wanting to chortle like an idiot as some hilarious memories sprang to her mind. "You know…" She watched how the ladies' eyes were firmly focused on her and inhaled deeply. "Y-You wanna know about this little note here, don't you?"

They nodded slowly. Eyes kind of stalking the young miss.

The bright blue sky on Touko's habitual refulgent eyes suddenly went clouded over, covered and obscure, as she lowered her gaze.

She meant to speak by opening her mouth, however, words were soundless.

"So?" Concordia asked eagerly.

"…" And this was all Touko could reply.

* * *

><p>AN: Hello guys! How you've been? Fine? I hope so! *giggles*

So, I know it's been a friggin' good while since... a friggin' good while ago, and maybe you've been asking yourselves if I was done with this or anything of the sort. Yeah, and maybe you haven't even remembered about a story named smile... ;)

But I've missed you, sweeties! I felt a pang in my heart when a guest was like "is it supposed to take this long?" when I wasn't able to reply. I must apologize for taking so long, I promise I'll never... hm, I'll try to never fall behind like that again, ok? - Just kidding! Truth is, I thought about dropping the story in case I could not keep the pace, but I've already discarded the idea.

I found another beta ~ **Kakashi Attacke** ~ who I owe this huge special thanks for this brilliant job! I LOVE YOU! Together we'll bring ya so much more drama, romance, drama, humor, drama, Touko, drama, N, drama, Touya, drama, Bianca, dram... you know the rest! And the rest you'll know on the next chapter!

Love ya!

Pink


	20. Chapter 19

I do not own Pokemon.

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 19<strong>

* * *

><p>Touko bit her lower lip with the terrible sensation of a never-ending dissatisfaction, since she came all the way from a far, small town just to solve a simple problem, however, to her, it was big enough to even prevent her from sleeping at night. To her chagrin, all she got was two refined dames insistently tugging at her clothes for an answer, like a spoiled child having a tantrum in front of a candy shop.<p>

She only stared back at the Goddesses, totally mute, half confused and nothing determined, only hearing the two women spur her on to annihilate their suffocating curiosity. But that wouldn't happen. Not right now.

"Miss Touko?" Anthea edged up, waving her hand at close sight. Touko responded by shaking her head and carefully tucked the paper into her jeans pocket.

"I'm sorry, I haven't read it yet... I didn't have the guts to do it..." The girl fiddled with her fingers and averted her gaze. "Guess I'm... I'm going home now... I'll give myself some time to think, then I'll be able to decide on what to do next..." She hunched her shoulders up in an indication that her attitude was immensely imbued with haziness as she gave her first step to wend her way home. Anthea's eyes started to water – she could never stand seeing anyone looking so... hapless. Watching the sad state of both females, Concordia spoke up again, but now with a new soft tone.

"Miss Touko wait! It's rather late to double back now... why don't you just doss down in one of these rooms...? There are so many, you can even pick one out for yourself! That'd be yours..." The blonde woman stood in her place, having a mind like a steel trap and making herself really firm despite her merciful sweetness. The other Goddess nimbly popped up before Touko, instantly wearing a cheerful expression.

"Yes! She's right! You're pretty worn out I suppose... stay here for the night, hum? We might find a way to get to N!" She hurried to offer support to the other woman in hammering out her staying. Touko hummed for a while, wanting to either fly away or put down roots there. But she had no choice – she felt drowsy already and the poor Braviary should be equally done in. She thought that maybe Zekrom would then obey her again, but she left it in the Pokemon Storage System. That caused her to internally groan to herself and she fought back the urge of slapping her face, so that she wouldn't act rude in front of the Goddesses.

'Braviary... I won't push you like that...' The girl reasoned and inhaled far inward to announce her final decision. "You won. I'll stay."

"Yay!" Anthea raised her fist in the air and cheered. "Come on, come on, come on! I'm gonna show you the rooms right away!" The woman snatched her wrist and began to drag her along like a speedy car with a trailer in tow. Touko couldn't help shaking her head lightly and chuckling at the excited figure before her, as she carried her away, just as it helped jogging the memory of a frolic blonde friend who used to do the same with her.

Concordia simply observed how the two were running like greased lightning and sighed as soon as she was left all alone in the hall. 'Guess my job around here is done for today.' She allowed a timid smile to come about feeling glad that she wouldn't have to worry about falling on her sword later. 'Time to hit the hay!' She swung around and strutted over to where she had been turning in since Team Plasma's downright golden age of high profit seethed with turbulent activity.

Streets apart, Anthea had already introduced Touko to several sleeping accommodations of the building and still meant to go for more. Before she could plunge with her into another one, the girl squealed at the sight of the latter room she was shown.

"I'm ok with this one, Lady Anthea! In fact, the first one had already worked for me anyway..." Touko tried to throw some light on her choice as she took notice of Anthea's confused gaze and sorry expression. "Er, well, I'd pick any of them! With all this majestic architecture I'd sleep even in this castle's cellar with no problem at all!" She forged a bright reassuring beam on her face, attentively staring at the Goddess of love.

"Hmm…" She murmured something to herself with an ephemeral frown disappearing before the girl could even detect it there. "This and the others… It's as broad as it's long! You're right!" The Lady winked at her, a U-shaped smile turning up on face. Touko's feet sprang off for three small jumps while she clapped her hands, laughing quite hysterically. She was afraid that the woman would not understand her cutting off their little tour and accentuate her current expression which had got a face like a wet week-end. Touko used to always act like that after regretting disappointing Bianca with some of her habitual grouchy mood, as an attempt to offset her brusqueness.

The trainer slowly inspected the area hunting up its most impressive features. She stepped on a ultra soft rug, which she thought she wouldn't ever be able to evaluate the actual price – for it was unconceivably expensive. She walked over it, mentally scolding herself for not being barefoot yet and asking mainly why she still had her boots on. Shifting her gaze to the marvelously ample and comfortable king size bed that had about three feet in height and seemingly many layers of sheets and covers and two gorgeous covered pillow cases, also with a pretty bed runner laying over the duvet, she noticed the inviting smoothness, ready to count down from three to one and make a vaulter out of herself to let the bed engulf her entirely.

Touko could no longer fend against such an appealing opulence, swiftly raising her right foot to yank her instep boot out of it. After doing the same with the other one and almost stumbling over her own recently discarded articles, she stretched out her arms toward the bed as she dashed crazily, like a thirsty, poor, miserable creature lost in the desert would at the sight of water. She bumped onto the ultra-soft mattress and allowed herself to enjoy her body rebounding after having struck its surface, giggling at the amazing sensation it brought.

Anthea watched in delight how she sprawled in bed and found it appropriate to say goodnight and leave her there to have a ball.

"Miss Touko..." The woman reached her timid hand forward, unwilling to come in the girl's particular enjoyment and afraid of speaking out of turn.

"Yeaaah?" Laughing as she bounced, she could still manage to answer the lady.

"I'll try not to be a nuisance, it's gonna be brief... I just want you to know that in case you need anything don't hesitate to put across what you want from us, okay?" She politely bowed her head."Have a good nigh-"

"Wait, please!" Touko shouted, now sitting on the jolting mattress, causing Anthea to curiously eye her up. She smiled bashfully at the woman, who was slowly approaching her. Noticing that maybe she was a bit too sharp, she promptly explained herself to try to remedy the situation. "Well…" She didn't know exactly how to behave before such distinguished dames, now for the first time feeling a real pang of remorse and distress for being the tomboyish brat she is. She groaned inside and loathed to admit that she was starting to envy Cheren's usual courteous nature. Sighing, she continued on. "I'm sorry. I j-just wanted to... since you've known N for so long, you've been in familiar terms with him for all these eyes, I just wanted... to know a bit more about him..." She lifted her embarrassed gaze to the woman and by what she saw from her reaction, she could tell that her cheeks were coloring up greatly.

"Ooh, hmmm..." Anthea hummed in a sentimental rhythm and held back a potent smirk to emerge. "And what exactly would you like to know?" She crooned her question, bending forward a bit.

"Oh, no, no! Don't take my concernment for something else..." She blushed heavily and lowered her head.

"That's fine, don't be shy about it... It's not in vain that I hold the title of Goddess of love. People never needed to bare their heart to me so that I could understand their feelings. Since I was a little kid, I was always able to catch onto these kinds of things! I never miss a trick when it comes to emotions!" She chuckled lightly, observing the girl with loving eyes.

"But I'm serious, Anthea... you know, N's personality is so complex... he's so different from the others! I mean, in a special way, of course, not saying that he's a freak or-" Touko's words rolled on nervously, only to be soothed by the woman's serene voice.

"Calm down, dear... I understand you!" She smiled, eyes tightly shut. "N has always been a good boy. He's calm, generally unfazed, sometimes even devoid of emotion... but, there always has been this one thing that can turn it all around on him." She looked at Touko, whose eyes would always brighten up and never blink the more she spoke of him. "Pokemon." She laughed when the brunette finally batted her eyelids, frowning with the uncomfortable sensation of a dehydrated eye.

"Well, tell me something I don't know! Everybody knows it! He had never kept it under his hat." The trainer grumbled as if shrugging off Anthea's most recent statement. "I would like to know if he had ever had a girlfriend-" She stopped frozen stiff, her eyes wide expanded and her hand flung onto her lips. In a matter of seconds she had already managed to run out of the nastiest words to cuss herself out as hands pushed down aggressively on her pale skin. 'The heck! I wasn't supposed to ask something like that...' She broke out in a cold sweat, her stomach chilling, and went about the conversation again like a Purloin on hot bricks. "Forget what I just said! Seems I have lost my marbles!" She turned up an unconvincing excuse and Anthea cracked up.

"Miss Touko... you're... you're quite the comic!" She inferred breathlessly and broke into more laughter. "The way you behave is enough to give all your secrets away!" The woman made no effort to refrain herself from showing Touko that she still needed to learn how to cover up her feelings in a more plausible manner. The girl just writhed and pulled some of the bed's massive sheets towards her, lumping them together over her lower body. She dug her head into the soft mass as she also hugged it to herself.

"mmnunmm nmunm numm!" Not only the girl's voice sounded all muffled, she also spoke pretty low and abashed, causing the pink haired lady to instantly wear a confused expression.

"Dear, would you please raise your head to me? I can't really make head or tail of what you're saying!" She walked over to her and sat gracefully on the edge of the bed.

"I said that I don't want to talk about it…" She lifted her head as immediately as she felt one side of the bed sagging under the Goddess weight.

"Fine. I won't push you." The gentle woman beamed at her and made a movement as if she would stand up.

"No wait, wait... I'd like to know more about... N's mother! How was she? Did you ever get the chance to meet her?" Touko stretched one arm out to grab Anthea's hand and signal her to remain right where she was.

The Goddess winced, her smile faded and she turned her head to the other side, her face looking dreadfully serious to the fullest extent. The trainer watched her fall silent in confusion and wanted answers.

"He... told me that his mother died when she delivered him... I'm sorry if I made you revive such a painful memori-"

"No! There are no memories! He never had a mother, miss Touko!" Anthea snarled nervously, bursting upon the girl's utterance as she jumped up out of bed, not wheeling about to face the person who she had just thrown off balance.

Touko stared at her in shock, her eyes broadening beyond any rate one could tell it's still possible. She was there, unable to do anything else other than merely gawk, gaping stupidly at the woman, which sour words were cruel enough to extract instantaneously the pep out of her. It was as if her brain had really quitted on her, yet she tried to chew her cud about what she would say next. But how could she possibly reply to something she hadn't even realized yet?

Of course, with the most appropriate reply to such a situation – "W-What?" She stammered, bringing her fingers to her lips.

Anthea lowered her tone as the girl could watch her back shrinking. "Just another one of Ghetsis' unscrupulous lies..." She slowly glanced at the girl from over her right shoulder, displaying a tear dripping down her face.

"N was an orphan." A firm voice chimed in from the bedroom's doorway, and both females snapped their heads to it. "I was once informed that right after he was born, he disturbed people with a unique attitude that suggested he could talk to Pokémon." Concordia sashayed elegantly into the place only to stop by the huge glassy door that provided access to a charming balcony. She drew the lustrous fabric of the curtain that partially covered it, revealing the full moon's stunning brightness outside. "It was when he was living in the woods with Darmanitan and Zorua. Ghetsis took him in." She took some steps backwards, knowing clearly that all attentions were turned to her. Getting closer to Anthea, Concordia tenderly placed a hand on her shoulder as she stared at Touko. "We are also orphans Ghetsis adopted. Our role was to take care of N." The blonde woman explained cooly, her facial expression rather blank.

"My Arceus..." Touko shook her head, lifting her hands up to the sides of her head. "He was an orphan, Ghetsis is not his real father..." She gasped her words, making a great effort to think further. "But... if he mentioned he had a mother... he's still unware of this part of his life! My Arceus! He's still being deceived!" The girl yelled frantically, throwing herself out of bed and started to pace back and forth as she gesticulated wildly.

"Deceived by Ghetsis, miss Touko! That barefaced liar groomed N so that he could impose on his innocence to take over Unova! N doesn't remember the bygone days when he lived in the woods, he was just too little. Thus, when he grew up a bit, that devil in robe told him that he was the responsible for his nonexistent mother's death, also ordering everyone else to confirm it, otherwise he'd make the victim quake in his or her boots for a horrifying punishment!" Anthea pressed on, watching the brunette begin to put two and two together, as her face lit with a new light of understanding. "He lied to him about it just to make him feel extremely guilty about the fictional incident and make up for it by helping him achieve his nefarious goals!"

Touko's confused air faded to an empty expression and rose to a downright infuriated scowl. She balled her hands into fists and trembled from anger, gritting her teeth. "That filthy... demon!" She turned about ready to storm off, grabbing her bag in the process, almost making it possible for one to notice her nostrils breathing out blazing flames like a Tepig would on the threshold of learning ember. Anthea gasped and immediately butted in on Touko's leaving, spreading out her arms toward both sides in front of the brunette.

"Don't wanna be the meddlesome type, miss Touko, but I need to know what you're thinking you are going to do!" The Goddess of love stared fixedly at the girl, refusing to ever step out of the way, as if she were a Cacturne and used the move ingrain.

"Excuse me, Anthea, but I need to get my affairs in order!" She waved the lady aside with brusque superiority, but the woman wouldn't get cold feet.

"Whatever is on your mind, Touko, do it tomorrow! No point in going out now. We've already talked about it." Concordia approached the huffing trainer slowly and reasoned with her usual determined yet soft voice. "If you really insist on abiding by attitudes that won't bear fruit, you ain't got a grain of sense then." The blonde Goddess spoke her mind honestly, showing the girl that she was the one who had real superiority there, when Touko seemed to have arrogated the privilege to herself alone. She sighed, finally conceding that Concordia was right.

"Fine, ok... I reckon it'd only turn me into a basket case!" The brunette made her way again to the bed, not with the same excitement as before, with the single strap of her bag loosening at her shoulder and sliding down her arm. She threw it randomly in the room and collapsed into the king size bed, exhalling pretty audible. The Goddess of peace stretched a small smile across her face and tried to offer some peace among all that chaos.

"It's beyond me to understand N's innocence and purity. But I will be delighted if he could realize what it is he wants to do on his own during his journey with his legendary friend." Concordia bowed to both females before wishing a good night for them and exiting the place.

Anthea would follow suit but as she made her way to the door, she glanced over the girl again and reached for the knob. Her pink eyes glistening radiantly against the moonlight.

"All I wanted to know is if N can see it now. Trainers befriend and battle with Pokémon not to hurt them, being this the simplest way for them to bond and understand one another better! I like saying that the more serious the battle, the more the real nature of Pokemon and people becomes evident!" The Goddess of love opened her heart and lingered there a bit to take in Touko's reaction. When she realized that she wouldn't even budge, she left her alone with her deep thoughts. Touko only could tell that she was unaccompanied when she heard the door's dull sound of being carefully shut. She closed her eyes as the sumptuous chandelier that was suspended from the ceiling faded from view with a blur until her vision was painted total black.

She fell asleep despite all those words echoing in her mind, despite all the latest events and the countless problems she still had to solve.

…...

"Uhuuuu! morning, Miss Touko!" Anthea sang out in a merry tone as she carefully opened the door with one hand as the other one carried a bed tray that had a natural solid wood frame.

As soon as she stepped in, the delicious aroma of freshly baked cinnamon buns filled the area, along with a subtle smell of chocolate-chip pancakes. The woman smiled, humming softly toward the bed, her eyes joyously shut.

"Miss Toukooooo! Look at wha-" The sight of an abandoned bed stopped her dead in her tracks. "W-Wha?" She scanned her surroundings while placing the tray on the mattress.

"Miss Touko, where are you?" She shout out the girl's name all the time as she searched for her in all the possible and impossible places in the room, such as drawers – but only when she was at the end of her tether.

She frowned and sighed as she placed her hands on her sides. The Goddess shifted her gaze to the bed's cover and finally noticed a small folded piece of paper.

"Hum?" Anthea raised an eyebrow and crawled into bed to reach for the note. She laid flatly on her stomach as she spread it out to view.

"Oh... my... Arceus..." Her narrow, flummoxed eyes suddenly grew wider with surprise and fright and she climbed out the bed and exited the place apprehensively.

….

It was about eight o'clock a.m. when Touko arrived on Anville Town's outskirts. She had been flying for what seemed over half an hour nonstop, with no brakes. However, she and Braviary still looked full of beans.

The brunette fished in her medicine bag for a lemonade she had bought recently from a vending machine, this one out of many scattered around Unova. She took a can with light orange and yellow stripes out and popped its stay-tab opening with the usual explosive sound.

"This one is foooor you, dear boy!" She happily placed the metal container before the Pokemon and drifted her eyes back to organize the jumble of items she left in search for the desired item. As soon as she was done, she stood up, grasping the bag's strap and wore it hanging directly down from the shoulder, posteriorly stretching out her limbs so as to cast off any remaining laziness in every ounce of her. She yawned in idleness and blinked her eyes several times after rubbing them.

"All right, I'm so ready!" She whooped as she raised her fists up high. She pulled a small Poke Ball from her right pocket and enlarged it, bending down to the eagle-like creature. "Now Braviary, com-" Before she could withdraw him, she noticed the bird pecking at the can, which had already crushed slightly against the sharp strikes. "Oh…" She face palmed, blushing from being so klutz to offer such a liquid container to a creature that had a beak. She looked up as if mentally thanking someone up there for being all alone without her friends around, specially Cheren and Touya, who would mercilessly take the mickey out of her.

"Wasn't this damned can supposed to serve as a healing drink for pokemon? What if they have no mouth or have... beaks? Where's the logic of that?" She spat, grabbing the can in her hand and grunting when the liquid started to ooze over her skin. Actually, how could a trainer ever use a fresh water, a soda pop or a lemonade on a Hitmonlee? Touko had her head overflowing with questions on Pokemon logic.

"Well... Perhaps I am the crunk here who couldn't just remember that Braviary is a bird and birds can't have drinks in a can! And my stupidity costed me P350!" The trainer seized her untied brown locks and pulled as if trying to yank them from her scalp out of vexation, but stopped before further harm. "That's the price..." She rolled her eyes and sighed in resignation. "Maybe I can find another way out..." She whispered to herself, her finger poking at her lips. "Gotta try pouring the rest in a bowl! Yes!"

She thought she had reasoned.

Touko went back to her bag in the section where she kept things sorted as key items and took a citron-green colored vessel, with the design of cheerful Liligants and vivid red flowers with white spotted petals graciously adorning the object. She set it in front of the bird and made the sweet juice flow forth into the bowl, but it reached not even its half.

"Yup! It's not much but... you're not that thirsty anyways, are you?" She was squatting and cocked her head to the side as she awaited a cry of approval from Braviary. The Pokemon just lowered his head and pecked at the liquid, tasted it and ruffled his large plume of white feathers, cawing awfully like a Murkrow.

"Ahhh ohh!" Touko got startled by the bird's sudden swing of behavior and lost her balance, falling backwards. She was just lucky she was already next to the ground and took no damage at all, despite her heart was annoyingly beating a mile a minute.

She swiftly rose to her feet as she shook the dirty from her clothes. "The heck is wrong with this Pokemon?" The trainer barked and glowered at Braviary, wiggling her finger at him like telling off. As though it wasn't enough, the Pokemon spat out the liquid at her so briskly that it splashed against her white tank top, damping all her front. The brunette slowly pulled the bottom of her garment outwards, as if to keep it detached from her body as the wetness turned it out to be awfully affixed to her. She twisted the fabric, frowning madly, and gave a dirty look to the bird. She most certainly managed an ultimate record-breaking achievement on swearing, cursing her own name after that for not being able to provide herself a million more words of the sort to proceed and break her own record.

The Pokemon bent his neck to the side a bit, acquitting and preening himself nonchallantly when Touko's commands started to echo. He turned about and gained some distance from her, as if to roost.

"What? Hey! Come over here! Now!" The brunette bawled, taking the small vessel with her and chasing after the bird. "Look, I may not be your trainer, that means I don't really know how to deal with you... but I'm trying my best, ok? I didn't know you don't like lemonade!" The girl slowly scooted closer, afraid that the Pokemon would flee into the woods. It took everything in her not to yell at the bird as she essayed a forgiving smile and a patient tone of voice, but her right eye was twitching due to an emergent stress. "Hmm... I love this drink! Don't you want it? So, I'll have it!" Touko sipped her drink thoughtfully, looking sideways with one eye shut and a frown. 'Oh Arceus, what am I doing?' In fact, the trainer had high hopes that she would kindle the bird's interest in the drink by doing so.

But, as any one other than her could tell, it failed.

She pulled her head back and licked her lips. "Hmmm! Delicious!" As soon as her eyes stretched open she noticed that her effort was only enough to bore Braviary to sleep.

As he did sleep with puffs of indifferent air escaping from his ajar bill.

The brunette stared with wide eyes at the unexpected scene, feeling like she would eat someone alive at the instant that any unfortunate soul were to cross her way.

"One... two... three... f-four... all right Touko! Just breathe! Everything is fine and you're the most patient being in this whole damn world! Even though you're all wet and... being ignored by the only flying-type you've got!" She moved her right shaky hand toward her left wrist and aggressively searched through its functions for her friend's contact in a huff. "Ah! Here you are, you little jerk!" One side of her lips tugged upwards at the display of the name she had just turned up. The more she heard those familiar tuut tuut sounds for not being promptly answered, the more she grimaced and gritted her teeth.

On the other side of the line, a boy slept under his wrinkled, messy covers. Grunting as his x-transcreiver rang incessantly, he rolled to the other side, curling himself up in a fetal position and throwing a pillow over his head, also hugging it.

Then, when his conscious and subconscious mind mingled, the one part responsible for logic and reasoning excelled, causing his eyes to snap open as he tossed himself forward with a quick abrupt motion to automatically grab the sonorous device and fumbled with its buttons to answer "Bianca?!" His expectant, raised eyebrow dropped as the flash of light revealed someone else in the small screen.

"Touko?" He asked in his usual deep guttural morning voice, not even bothering to modulate his sudden tone of deception.

"No! It's Sinnoh's champion Cynthia! Nice to meet you!" Touko rolled her eyes, her expression darkening. But Touya, otherwise, put on a blank expression. He just looked sideways in a bored fashion and refused to comply with her silly game. "Look, Touya! Braviary is acting really strange! I'd like to know what's wrong with him!" She trolled, making it even harder for the yet groggy boy to keep up with her pace while dealing with his lethargic morning state.

"Wait, wait..." He ran his hand through his unruly hair and suspired. "What happened to my Pokemon?" He narrowed his brown eyes at the screen, sounding really serious, almost harsh. The female trainer flinched at the perception of her friend's rare attitude, but was just too furious to yield to its overwhelming effect.

"This freaking bird won't obey me no more! Well, everything was okay until I served him a lemonade... after that your Pokemon went stark raving mad! It even spat the drink at me!" She screeched as the boy stared firmly at the window of his room, cogitating hard on throwing his X-transcreiver straight out of it. Instead, he merely lowered the volume, greatly tempted to reduce it to the minimum as the device displayed a representation of the signal level in audio. He scowled when he noticed how much she was rambling and pressed the mute option. He resisted the urge to laugh as he watched the girl forever mouthing off about her frustrations on the other side, without him hearing a single peep out of her nimbly-talking lips.

Then, when she looked like she awaited an answer from him, he undid the mute and finally made what looked like a monologue sound like a real dialogue.

"I'm sorry, Touko, I forgot to tell you that my Braviary is special!" Touko would actually find that he was kidding with her like he always does, but something was different in his tone and expression – he was particularly humourless this time.

"Special... like... how?" She asked with a vocal wobble, getting a bit alarmed by the riddle he set forth as an answer.

"Well..." His words trailed off, as if he was not sure of how to explain. "He's very finicky indeed, Touko. You'll find he's very difficult to please unless you can afford the most expensive drink around. For instance, water. Don't you ever offer any other kind but Acqua di Cryogonal, Kyogre Nigari, or even Frillico. At times he may not decline a Blinglalie H2O... but only when he's got a good mood and feels like being less fastidious..." Touya smirked, counting all those costly trademarks of water bottles on his fingers.

Touko was unable to speak with her jaw dropped, which seemed to weight over a million tons at the instant.

"Don't believe me? Just watch, then!" He disappeared from the screen, revealing the background image of the place where he was staying. A few seconds later he showed up again holding a fancy bottle in his hand, the liquid swooshing round inside it. "Ta-da! This one is a real Kyogre Nigari! It is made of desalinated sea water gathered from about thousand feet beneath the sea's surface within an area off the island of Mossdeep. Thinking carefully, you pay over forty thousand Poke bucks to quench your thirst as its properties also suggest doing the function of a psychiatrist, dermatologist and fitness trainer altogether. Possibly, it's really worth it!" He brought his thumb and index finger together and inserted them in his mouth, blowing sharply in order to emit a strong whistle.

"Braaaa!" Touko turned around and saw the Pokemon quickly flying toward her, like it would use the move sky attack against her anytime soon.

"What you just did, you moron! T-This bird's gonna murder me!" The girl shuffled backwards, fidgeting with her device.

"He won't murder you. I've raised my Pokemon quite well, they're not that sort." The boy chuckled lightly but his tone got a tad serious at the end. "Ok Braviary, stop!" The eagle-like creature was ready to plow into Touko and snatch her X-transcreiver – from where came the voice of his beloved trainer – from her hands, but he stopped only a few inches before the damage was done, obeying immediately. "Hey buddy!" Touya greeted his friend, earning from him a pleased coo as he fluttered his wings in delight. Touko had stretched her arm sideways to Braviary, still with the electronic contrivance in hand, so that Pokemon and trainer could chat properly.

"I need you to listen carefully to me, okay?" He asked and Braviary nodded quietly. "Touko may be a pest at times, but she always tries her best. I need you to attend her every word now, fine? Ah, this water here she can't afford, so try to be a good boy and don't decline what she offers!" The male trainer pointed at the bottle and the Pokemon shrugged, but showed he was in sympathy with what had just been said.

"Why the heck would you say I can't afford it?" Touko growled, coming into his view again. He just laughed. "So you were never that rich to flaunt all those expensive items!"

"Yes, Touko. I'm not and I was never rich. It's never been my goal, anyway. However, I'm always engaging in battles with the strongest trainers in Unova and they all happen to pay me a fairly generous sum. I've also got my job in Nuvema, even though I haven't taken up since I left that town for my journey. You know that." He calmly explained, reminiscing on days when his employer used to be also his basketball coach.

"Wait, why did you say... that town? Aren't you in town?" She set into confusion as she watched him shake his head.

"No." He gave her a pretty short answer.

"So where are you?" She formulated another question, not satisfied with the previous one.

"Not telling ya, so that you won't come by!" Touya teased and cracked up when the girl cussed a blue streak before the screen flickered to black. He was somehow thankful that she had awakened him, or else he would still be in his R.E.M. sleeping mode.

He placed the device aside, taking his time to yawn as he stretched out in bed. He rose to his feet, ignoring completely the contact of his bare soles against the cold floor since he could only eat, sleep and breathe Pokemon League, and the dream of championship. But it was also as clear as crystal that a certain blonde girl just made him even more eager to put his heart and soul into it. And, yes! She's really got him pumped.

Approximately one hour later, he was already sauntering along route 9, looking for tough trainers and some wild double battles in those darker grasses, which could gain him some time as he could conveniently train two Pokemon at once.

He found some good matches but none was a real match for him, as expected. Touya sat on a rock after tossing all his six Poke balls into the air and announcing the break-time to his friends. He beamed in exultant joy as he watched his partners rushing to play, relax and eat, doing it all on such a vivid green grass.

Then, he locked himself up in his own world again.

Strong trainers. Weak trainers. He started to wonder if they all amount to the same thing. He wanted a battle in which he could barely beat out his challenger and, to his dismay, the only one he could ever think of was Cheren. Even Touko seemed out of shape since she hadn't been training her team in a while.

He sighed, sliding his hand down into his satchel and groped about for his blue squeeze type bottle. He has always liked these kinds of non-disposable bottles since he became an athlete.

He lifted its sports cap and took a sip, feeling very refreshed when the somewhat cool liquid grazed against his dry throat.

He set the bottle down, holding it between his knees and bent his upper body forward a bit, keeping an eye on his Pokemon. His gaze shifted to the dark blue device on his left wrist. His eyes shimmered with hope as he slowly searched for some special someone on his contact's list.

"Bianca..." He whispered, his finger resisting no more the urge to call her.

But all he could get was suspension points and suspense rising in him. Shortly after, his X-transcreiver emitted the sound he most dreaded to hear at the moment, the one indicating that she was totally out of range.

He felt a warm tear streaming down his face effortlessly, twinkling against the sunlight. The brim of his cap covered his crestfallen look and for the very first time in his life, he wouldn't mind being noticed in such a state. He couldn't see her, but could still remember everything about her and this, oddly enough, managed to buoy him up a bit.

He needed her next to him. For, Touya let his memories take him back to when he had love and peace right by his side and, gradually, his far-off thoughts turned off his system.

(Flashback)

Ever since Bianca was thrown over by Cheren, she had been travelling with Touya on his journey. He has ever been her closest friend, the one she could always trust enough to tell even her deepest and most sacred secrets. He had been there at either happy or sad moments of her life, telling her that he would always be there to multiply her smiles at those happy times as well as dividing her pain up between them at difficult ones. He would like to take all her suffering upon himself, he would always want to set her free from any anguish dwelling in her delicate heart. This time around, it wasn't different. He rescued her from the darkness Cheren had left her sinking into.

Now, they were in Opelucid city, in its northwest corner. Touya was gearing up for his last gym battle. He was as high-spirited as his usual, gathering his Pokemon team around himself and sending forth his final instructions for a pretty tough battle against the so dreadful dragon-types. He had also beautiful words of encouragement in store for his friends and would tenderly pet each of them before the decisive event.

They were outside the gym with Bianca watching carefully Touya's every strong-minded gesticulation, his every step and every motion from a not so distant park bench.

She was caressing Mincinno's head, smiling wildly with the pleasing sensation of those scruffs of fur grazing against her fingertips. She couldn't help laughing every time she recalled how the chinchilla-like Pokémon was caught, but felt a tad bit frustrated underneath.

It was just a few days ago when she spotted the furry little creature, squealing in delight how she would like to own one. The blonde girl got closer, not exactly in a furtive manner, but in her particular bouncy style, what caused the Pokemon to flee and her to frown. She tried chasing after with her Pignite, but Mincinno's speed overwhelmed them, getting the fire type completely dazzled. She tripped on a rock in racing to meet her Pokemon but was lucky to have Touya catching her and the Mincinno seemingly at once.

She broke in a chortle of amusement over how she pouted and puffed out her cheeks when Touya gave her the fainted cute Pokemon, so that she could use one of her Poke Balls on it. She only wanted to prove everyone that she could do anything she felt like doing on her own.

"Bianca?"

She looked up to where she thought the voice was coming from, still lost in absorbing memories. The blonde girl frowned as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight, even though she had her best friend looming over her, with his shadow easing up the intensity of the rays. "I could spend a lifetime staring at your perfect smile, but we ought to get going." Touya gave her his fetching trademark smile, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"You're already done with your makeready?" The girl asked with a slightly skeptical tone and put on a mazed expression when the boy nodded slowly. "Hmm... you rushed your little ritual this time! You sure you haven't left anything out?" She carefully held the pokemon in her arm while her hand took Touya's as he gently helped her rising from the seat.

"For how long have you been switched off?" He crossed his arms now, chuckling softly and staring right into her radiant green eyes.

"Ah..." Her cheeks were tinted a light pink. "For how long... I don't know..." She lifted a hand up to pull her beret down since she didn't like it when Touya pointed out her spacing out into a daydream.

"I thought as much!" He chuckled and she puffed her lips out. Again. "I withdrew them already! We are very wired for this battle!" The boy waxed lyrical about being ready, rubbing the inner surface of his hands together.

"That's no news to me, you know… you're a battle lover!" The blonde girl beamed at him and, surprisingly, was the first to take an intentional step towards the gym. Touya just followed her, grinning from ear to ear, clasping his hands on his nape as he walked easy-going right behind her. He looked up at the bright blue sky, seeing how the cotton-like clouds floated unhurriedly past him. Now it was his turn to daydream.

He imagined the gorgeous legend badge in his hand, sparkling with a fascinating luster as his own sienna eyes scintillated as well. He saw himself at the Pokemon league, overpowering the current champion Alder with his incredibly unstoppable team. He couldn't believe that his long distant dream was finally just round the corner and grinned at the proximity of a positive outcome. He was so off in his wonder land that he missed two flat plates of metal intended for information, fixed to the concrete blocks on the wall. They read:

Opelucid City Pokémon Gym

Leader: Drayden

"The Spartan Mayor" on the right.

Opelucid City Pokémon Gym

Leader: Iris

"The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons" on the left.

As soon as they entered the gym, Bianca's frightened gasp broke into his trance and he came to reality as he whisked toward his best friend to check on her. She had also a concerned Mincinno in her arm, staring up at her with apprehensive wide eyes and large ears twitching.

"What's wrong, Bianca? You're hurt? What happened?" Touya scuttled closer, his expression not less worried than Mincinno's.

"T-Touya-kun... mind that th-thing..." Bianca pointed at a huge moving dragon statues' head, wincing with the feeling that there could possibly be so much more further in.

"Ah?" He looked around him, scanning all those colossal features. "This is... awesome!" His tone got extremely excited at the end of the sentence.

As though she knew his reaction already, the blonde girl just sighed and put herself in proper condition to accompany him to a greater extent.

The gym was more of a thin maze equipped with switches the challenger had to hit correctly, until, after figuring out the right order, it leads to the Leader. Touya didn't take long to realize there were in fact three dragons and quickly pulled off the tricky maze.

The path revealed the last Leader of Unova, the one who held his final Unova gym challenge and yet separated him from the Pokemon League.

After wishing him good luck, Bianca went astray from the Leader's direction and toward a flight of steps that was connected to an average tier of seats, where she took one on the first row, placing the cute Pokemon on her lap.

Lights turned on.

Touya raised a hand and adjusted the brim of his cap, which shadow gave a peculiar serious look to his face, as he positioned himself on the challenger's side.

On the other side was a robust man with hoary hair and beard and yellow menacing eyes. He folded his arms in determination, lifting his head up as he stared at the likewise determined boy who stood some feet ahead of him.

"We're sort of kindred spirits!" He bawled with an unbelievable strong voice as he took notice of Touya's posture. "What's your name, kiddo?"

The boy smirked under the shade of his cap's projecting edge.

"I'm glad to hear this, Sir. I'm Touya Black from Nuvema town." He plainly replied. "As I'm also glad that you were right here waiting for me, like you knew beforehand I was on my way!" The younger trainer continued on, sliding hands into his pockets and lightly tilting his head sideways.

"Haha! I have my informants… Besides, it's not like those giant dragon's head go unnoticed when they're moving!" The man howled loudly as he beckoned to a certain individual, who by what clothing indicated, was possibly the official referee of the gym. "Now, let me introduce myself properly! Welcome and thank you for coming. I am Drayden, the Opelucid Pokemon Gym's Leader. I am also this city's mayor and I've given my all to promote its growth. As a trainer, I've merely been working towards greater strength. For all that, what I'm looking for at the moment is a young Trainer who can show me a prosperous future. Maybe you can show me what lies ahead, the way Iris has?"

And this is where you can almost hear the gym battle's soundtrack.

"Are you ready, kid?" His question echoed in the gym with ease and Touya just nodded in response, feeling a rush of adrenaline increasing in his blood.

"This is gonna be a three vs. three battle. Trainers can switch Pokemon out at any time among the three chosen ones." He raised his arms. "The gym battle between Touya from Nuvema town and Drayden, the Opelucid gym leader, will now begin. The battle will be over when all the three Pokemon on one side are unable to continue! Now, begin!" He lowered his arm down in a swift slash and Drayden immediately sent out Touya's first hurdle, a Fraxure. The boy's face lit as he threw his dearest Braviary's Poke Ball into the field.

The match went on with mild emotions and was completely balanced out with the bird type winning in the end. He chuckled at the sight of Bianca dancing with Mincinno at the top of the stairs.

"I didn't see that coming. You are a very arduous opponent!" The man shouted, not passing over his challenger's toughness.

The leader's second choice was a Druddigon which rough skin caught the boy's attention without delay. He was careful enough not to land any physical attack on the foe, since Braviary was apparently in a pinch, however this strategy was nothing but a catalyst for his defeat. The young trainer could hear the blonde girl gasping somewhere on his right. He returned his brave friend with a shaky hand as the impact of the loss washed over him and got the boy a bit disoriented.

Now it was like the battle was reset into two vs. two.

Touya twisted his lips in frustration and pulled out another Poke Ball, going for his loyal Emboar. The ground even shook a bit under the weight of the embonpoint creature.

Now it resulted into a fierce clash of two powerful beings. Over the long haul both Pokemon performed well, but it was by far the most exhausting battle they've ever undergone whereas their trainer's vocal cords were wearing thin with nonstop commands.

After an eternity, the fight seemed to end in what they could tell was a matter of seconds. Using their strongest move against one another at the same time, both hit their target, going past each other due to the enormous impulse and losing momentum shortly after. The two Pokemon stood like statues with backs turned and the suspense rose as it flourished in the ruthless silence.

Touya felt his throat dry, what made it even worse when he gulped. "Emboar, hang on!" The boy yelled out, his voice starting to get hoarse. The dual type Pokemon turned his head to his trainer with light sweeping motions, his eyes for the first time ever begging for forgiveness.

Then, Emboar fainted, but much to Touya's relief he managed to take down the gym leader's Druddigon as both hit the damaged ground.

Let's call it a tie.

Touya was down to his last option but he still clung to a tingle of excitement as he remebered that Drayden's situation was like the very same. He grinned, pinning all his hopes on this new and ultimate chance.

The leader revealed his third Pokemon, a Haxorus.

The young trainer brought the enlarged catching device to his lips and murmured softly "Come on, buddy! Let's snatch victory from the jaws of defeat now!" He sent out his crucial attempt with a solid smile plastered on his face. The light materialized into an ursine that was able stand on his hind legs. The Beartic filled the area with a mighty roar that overawed both competitors and the small audience in a fantastic equal manner, causing his trainer's smile to grow even wider.

"I knew you were about to play your trump card!" Drayden laughed as his large chest moved up and down. "Now it's all or nothing! Ah, this really gets my blood pumping!"

Beartic's advantage against the dragon-type was irrefutable, what made Touya decide to bring the house down right off the bat with the move Blizzard.

And, oh boy, it worked.

"Yes!" The boy yelled, throwing one fist in the air. He knew perfectly that the accuracy ratio of this move can be a total pain in the neck.

Haxorus staggered, crying out, but was still able to continue as Bianca was unable to remain in a sitting position, clapping hands as loud as she could to support her best friend.

It was as clear as crystal, as certain as two and two equals four that Touya would easily carry the day and receive the legend badge. But it was a bolt from the blue when the leader exploded a bombshell by coming upon him with the move Incinerate. Moreover, Haxorus' speed stat is higher than Beartic's, what only made it worse.

Tables were turned on the boy and he found his slow Pokemon labouring to keep up with the dragon-type, missing move after move and being mercilessly attacked. Despite all suffering, the ice-type refused to yield for his pride and for his trainer. He withstood all those strong moves bravely, but the cries and the look on his eyes showed clearly that he was agonizing all over like hell.

"Beartic!" The blonde girl shrieked, her eyes watering.

Touya held his breath, hands clenching into fists at his sides. He couldn't take it anymore, seeing his Pokemon in pain was incomparably more grievous to him than losing a battle, even if it's a gym battle.

"Enough! I give up!" He shouted, plunging forward with a tear gliding down his face.

"The challenger gave up, Haxorus wins! So, the match goes to the leader Drayden!" The referee proclaimed the winner, his hand pointing at the gym leader's direction.

The young trainer watched how Beartic legs lost persistence as he at last collapsed. As athletic as Touya is, he made it possible to heave Beartic's upper body into his arms, letting it rest onto his lap. He patted his fainted friend, hissing at each wound he found on him.

"I'm sorry, my friend... it's okay now, it'll take you to the Pokemon Center and you'll be fully healed again... I shouldn't have let the situation get to this point!"

Bianca suddenly appeared beside him, carressing the ice-type as she hoped to somehow alleviate his pain. Mincinno just copied his owner's gesture with sad, big eyes.

The boy heard the man's footsteps approaching, but kept his gaze fixed on Beartic.

"You're quite the trainer, it was wonderful. I'm glad we had a chance to meet and battle." Drayden's voice sounded compassionate this time. "I can see that you're a resilient kind of person. And so are your Pokemon. You're already ready for a rematch." The man crouched next to the teenagers and rubbed lightly the ice-type's bluish white fur. Touya now stared at him, his eyes shimmering with tears.

"Thank you..." He whispered, his timid tone was barely loud enough to be heard. "You did great! Rest for now my friend..." Beartic went back to his Poke Ball and Touya gently put it into his satchel. He and the gym leader stood up and shook hands. Then, the younger trainer held his bag's shoulder strap and prepared to leave the gym. Before, the boy smiled fondly at Bianca, who was struggling to get up because of her long dress. He and Drayden helped her up on her feet.

"Oh, thank you so much!" She cutely bowed her head and beamed at them.

"You're welcome, young miss!" The mayor bowed with fine elegancy but tensed an upright position right after to better set his vision on some familiar someone who had just barged about into the field. Touya and Bianca looked behind themselves toward the same person the gym leader had previously identified.

"Aaah! Iris!" The blonde girl rushed to meet her acquaintance, waving an overjoyed hand at her.

"Whoooa! Bianca! Is that really you?" Iris came closer and glomped the green eyed girl as they squealed in delight. Touya and Drayden exchanged glances, both feeling like a fish out of water with such a girlish scene. When Iris pulled away she examined the blonde and concluded "Ah, sure thing it's you, Bianca! Your big boobs wouldn't ever let me mistake you for someone else!"

The older girl blushed and smiled awkwardly, not noticing that Touya surreptitiously gave her breasts the once-over as he scratched at the back of his head, letting his cap cover his flushed face.

"Iris! Your remark wasn't really appropriate to the occasion!" The man upbraided his apprentice for bringing up an indelicate subject. "Do apologize to her now!"

"Ahh, it's not necessary... what she said is the naked truth!" Touya quickly slapped his hand against his mouth as soon as he realized he had just let his secret thoughts slip. "Well, I gotta go... I need to heal my Pokemon! Be seeing you!" He strode in a rush toward the exit so as to try to cover up the mess he had made, leaving behind all the attentions that were silently turned to him.

"Oh, I have to go with him! We'll meet again!" Bianca winked, taking Mincinno in her arms and following her friend out.

"Fine! And tell your boyfriend that he's funny!" Iris yelled loud enough for both to hear.

"H-He's not my boyfriend... he's only a friend!" The blonde replied after a brief halt and wheeled around again to reach her friend.

Outside the gym Bianca found a puffy Touya bending forward with hands resting on his knees. She placed a hand on his hunched back and parted her lips like she meant to speak. Between the interval she would draw in the air and emit words, the boy proved he was faster.

"She asked if I was your boyfriend, wasn't it?" He gasped his question, slowly erecting his posture.

"Hmm..." Her cheeks colored up again. "Yeah... she w-was way off the mark, hum?" Bianca tittered with embarrassment, looking down.

Touya sighed and stared at her. His eyes had this sad look the girl had never seen before. "Yes, I guess that's all there is between us..." They locked gazes in the stillness of a windy afternoon, the breeze blowing the golden hues of their hair, his own giving out a reddish gold aspect in the nearing sunset.

"Hm-hum... well..." She forced a natural smile. "I know that a heated-sauce vanilla sundae with a dollop of chocolate cream and nuts would totally perk you up!" The blonde girl took her friend by the wrist as if she had something on her mind. "We're going to the Pokemon Center first and then we'll be having something frozen and sweet! You love this!" The girl was excited about finding a way to animate him so quickly.

"Bianca..." He whined. "I don't know if I'm in the mood..." He admited as he watched the girl whip her head around at him.

"Come on, Touya... you're not like that." Her beseeching eyes were all it took to change his mind, as always.

After submitting half of his team to the nurse's care, the teenagers strolled in the city for a while before running across an ice cream parlor.

In terms of environment, they settled for the outside seating despite the indoor facilities and warm comfort. Bianca happily tasted her strawberry ice cream with muesli topping while Touya only stared at his disposable light-blue spoon.

"Hmmm! This is delicious!" She stated as the ice cream muffled her words a bit. The boy only raised an eyebrow at her, curling lightly one side of his lips up in response. "Yours looks very tasty too!" She giggled, unable to stop digging the spoon into the sweet food.

"Not only it looks but it certainly tastes good too." He answered quietly and rather uninterested in the subject.

Bianca noticed how difficult her friend was acting as she pecked at the sweet and searched for the right words inside her head. Even though she had been eating in small amounts, she finished her ice cream before it could melt down, but the time wasn't so merciful to the male trainer's dessert – what looked like more of a creamy foam now.

"All right, Touya! What's wrong? I can't take your apathy anymore!" She rose from her seat abruptly as the brisk motion shoved the chair backwards with a sharp noise. "Don't wanna pal around with me at the moment, do you?" She furiously grabbed her green bag suggesting that she would clear off at any time.

"Bianca I've just lost a battle. Not a regular one, but a gym battle!" He leaned back in his chair, placing his latched hands over his stomach in an indignant way.

"Oh my Arceus! That's life. Win a few, lose a few!" She explained, dropping her hands at her sides with a soft slapping sound. "It's perfectly normal! The only thing you can't really do about it is fall apart at the seams!"

Touya shook his head in disbelief while hissing, like his friend was being utterly unfair. "It looks like I was wrong when I thought that you knew me!"

Bianca gave him a fixed wide-eyed gaze, feeling like she was the only one who had the total right to shake head in disbelief at what had just been said.

"Those who have never known you before can no more believe what you used to be. And those who used to know you..." She paused and studied his reaction for a while. "...can no more recognize you by now." She choked up and thus her voice was so low that Touya had to squint as he tried to lip-read the rest of her sentence.

He would expect any other kind of answer, but this one really put him at a loss. He couldn't even think properly when he also had to deal with her heading off to somewhere else. Something strong inside him, an impelling force, propelled him to chase after her, even though he didn't know what to do in case he reaches the blonde.

Nevertheless, he did it.

* * *

><p>First: I wish you guys a happy new year, happy 2014 (it's a world cup year, haha)!<p>

Second: Weird ending to this chapter, hum? Well, I've written a long, long chapter with about 15.000 words, so I decided to split it into two chapters so that it wouldn't get so exhausting to read. So chapter 20 will be coming soon. This one right here is the longest so far... I think... ;)

Third: Thanks so much, guys! And a special thanks to my Beta Kakashi Attacke for betain' this chapter throughout the festive celebrations that occur at the end of the year!

❤ ya!

Be back soon, but now...

I'm gone, ~Poof~


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